Chapter 7: Behind the Scenes
In the Para Bellum dimension . . .
"I'm pretty sure there is a spell for what you're looking to do, Dad," Ivy said as she watched her father, Harry Ashworth Black, fumble through the desk drawer of some random Muggle prison administrator's desk. After a moment, he found what he had been looking for—a bottle of whiteout.
"Sometimes the Muggle way is easier," Harry said as he uncapped the bottle and went to work on magically duplicated copies of the prison records the triplets had dummied up earlier that summer when they had deposited Bellatrix Lestrange in HM Prison Eastwood Park under a false identity.
"If you say so," Ivy said doubtfully, glancing toward Holly and Violet who were guarding Dolores Umbridge and keeping a lookout for unwanted attention from the Muggle prison guards.
Not only had the triplets managed to disguise Bellatrix as a Muggle prisoner, they had also placed strong enchantments on her records and on her prison cell. The enchantments served to suppress Bellatrix's magic, compel the Muggle prison guards to see to Bellatrix's needs without letting her out of her cell, and prevent Bellatrix from communicating with anybody. Although Dolores Umbridge was hardly the menace to society that Bellatrix Lestrange was, Harry and his daughters had opted to imprison her in the same manner for the time being. It saved them having to spend time designing a way to keep her under control.
"There!" Harry declared after whiting out Bellatrix Lestrange's fake name on the prison records and filling in the name he and his daughters had chosen for Dolores Umbridge.
"Anybody can see that you used whiteout," Ivy sighed.
"So?" Harry retorted. "If your enchantments copied onto the duplicates, the whiteout isn't going to matter."
"I suppose you're right," Ivy admitted, taking the papers away from Harry. "Violet and I will stash her into a cell. Holly can take you to Ms. Lestrange's cell for that visit you seem to want."
"I don't want to visit her; I need to visit her," Harry corrected, allowing himself to be led out of the room by Holly.
Making liberal use of sleeping charms, Harry and Holly proceeded through the prison hallways until they came to Bellatrix Lestrange's cell. Holly deactivated some of the enchantments, and Harry cast a spell that would allow him to pass through the doorway without actually opening it.
Harry stepped into the cell, and as light from Harry's wand lit the cell, Harry was surprised to find that Bellatrix Lestrange was awake and sitting up on her bunk, staring at him with excited fervor. The excitement in her eyes faded away as her eyes searched Harry's face.
"You're not my master," she said despairingly.
"What made you think I was?" Harry replied slowly as he struggled to contain his revulsion toward his wife's wretched counterpart and his memories of the Bellatrix from his past future who had stabbed herself with the magical hair ornament.
"I could sense your power as you approached," Bellatrix Lestrange said, beginning to giggle hysterically. "Who are you? You are not the Dark Lord, but you are as powerful as he, I think."
"Who do you think I am?" Harry replied obliquely.
Bellatrix Lestrange abruptly ceased from giggling. "Another Dark Lord, perhaps?"
Harry pressed his lips together, but did not immediately respond. He tried to make eye contact with Bellatrix Lestrange, but her gaze kept switching from him to other parts of the cell. "Look into my eyes," Harry said.
Bellatrix Lestrange began giggling again. "I am not yours to command."
Harry flicked one of his hands, and a wand appeared in the blink of an eye. Suddenly, Bellatrix's head stopped moving, and the unspoken spell that had gripped her head forced her eyes to look toward Harry's own eyes, which were glowing like emerald orbs.
Wandlessly, Harry used Legilimency to invade Bellatrix Lestrange's mind. Harry was surprised to discover that there were no Occlumency shields in her mind at all. Apparently, she did not feel like there was a need. She knew nothing of the Dark Lord's current plans and was not afraid to let any Ministry worker know that she was completely dedicated to Lord Voldemort's cause.
Frowning, Harry began searching for the local dimension's version of the magical hair ornament in Bellatrix Lestrange's mind. He found it in a memory of her tucking it away into a Gringotts vault shortly after Voldemort's demise at the hands of Lily Potter and baby Harry, but before the Ministry had captured her and imprisoned her in Azkaban.
Bellatrix Lestrange laughed raucously. "So, you came for that, did you? You shan't have it."
Harry was tempted to retort and explain why he had decided to search her memories for the status of the hair ornament, but he realized that doing so would serve no purpose. He cancelled all of the spells he had active and then used his drawn wand to stun and memory charm Bellatrix Lestrange before exiting the cell.
~!~!~!~!~!~!
Shortly after their visit to the Muggle prison, Harry and his daughters, laden with recently purchased groceries, wandered into the so-called Tower of London and found Captain Sirius pacing back and forth in the reception area.
"You've been out having fun, haven't you?" Captain Sirius said accusingly.
"Yep," Violet said, grinning widely.
"Why didn't you invite me?" Sirius grumbled as he accepted some of the grocery bags and walked with the triplets and Harry to the room in the Tower of London that served as a kitchen.
"You were all tied up with the Order," Harry said as he gestured for the triplets to start sorting the groceries and putting them in the fridge and freezer. "But don't worry, you and I are going to accomplish great things tomorrow."
"What are we going to do?" Ivy asked.
Harry smiled grimly. "For the next several days, you three have two choices about how to spend your time: you may audit some Hogwarts classes or work on finishing the wards and construction around here. I would prefer that you do some of both."
The triplets sighed, rolling their eyes in unison.
Harry and Captain Sirius left the kitchen while the triplets were still sorting the groceries.
"So, if you're here, things must be getting pretty serious," Captain Sirius said as he and Harry began to wander around the corridors of the Tower of London. It seemed that Harry wanted to get a feel for the layout of the building.
Harry ignored the pun. "Within the next day or two, Bella is going to put Arthur in charge of overseeing the day-to-day operations of the Ministry. Meanwhile, she is going to assemble something of a war council. They'll start making firm plans for the next steps to happen in this dimension."
"What about you?" Sirius asked.
"I'm more comfortable here on the front-lines assessing the situation and putting out fires than sitting around a conference table hashing out logistics and making up contingency plans," Harry said. "Incidentally, you and I are both on the council, even if they start meeting back at home without us. If they show up here, don't be shy about attending the meetings."
"Kind of an Order of the Black Phoenix, eh?" Sirius said, cracking a grin as he and Harry stepped up to a window and looked out at London.
"Yeah, something like that," Harry said absentmindedly as he stared out the window. "I think Bella is already referring to it as her Privy Council."
Sirius chortled. "One of these days, you're going to have to remind her that she's not the Queen."
"She knows that," Harry said, a smile warming his face as he thought about his wife. "That's the problem."
~!~!~!~!~!~!
In the Delenda Est dimension . . .
Never before had Ginny suffered so much misery from waking up by a certain time in the morning, but she was absolutely determined to be awake so that Bellatrix would take her to the Ministry and teach her Legilimency. Fighting the urge to close her eyes and let herself slip into blackness, Ginny pushed herself out of bed and got ready for the day as the sun barely crested the eastern horizon.
After getting dressed, she allowed herself to sit on the bed and lean against the headboard as she wondered whether she needed to be merely awake or whether she needed to make it downstairs in order for Bellatrix to see that she was ready and take her to the Ministry. Ginny's internal debate ended with a knock on the door.
Tonks stuck her head in the room and grinned at Ginny. Ginny was surprised to see that the normally radical-looking Auror was looking more conservative. Tonks had grown her hair longer and morphed it into a darker shade of purple. Her face had even undergone subtle changes. Tonks now bore a very strong resemblance to Bellatrix, the chief differences being the purple hair, the lack of an elegant coiffure, and cheekbones more pronounced than Bellatrix's cheekbones.
"Wotcher, Ginny," Tonks said. "Aunt Bella wants to know if you're planning on coming to the Ministry with her."
"Y-yes," Ginny stuttered as she stared at the Auror. "Why have you changed your style?"
"I got promoted to be an Auror Captain," Tonks said proudly. "Aunt Bella says that I'm her right-hand Auror for the time being." She paused and looked over her shoulder before whispering conspiratorially. "She said that I have to dress respectably when I'm around her. So, are you going?"
"Yes," Ginny said, "but could you help me?"
"Of course," Tonks said readily. "Do you want me to levitate you, or would you rather lean on me and limp through the hallways of Ravenbourgh?"
Ginny blushed. "Would you levitate me? And can we stop at the kitchen for something to eat?"
"Yes and yes," Tonks said, drawing her wand and casting a levitation charm on Ginny.
Fortunately, for Ginny's self-esteem, nobody saw Tonks levitating Ginny as if she was some sort of luggage. In short order, the two witches had stopped in the kitchen long enough for Ginny to eat some food and then moved onto the large garage where the Black family kept their Muggle automobiles. They found Bellatrix in one of her trademark 700 Series BMWs, drumming her fingers impatiently on the steering wheel.
Tonks opened a backdoor and helped Ginny take her seat next to Auror Katie Bell.
"You're supposed to be the driver," Tonks mouthed to Katie quietly, so that Bellatrix would not hear.
Katie shrugged. "She was here first."
"What are you two saying?" Bellatrix asked as Tonks clipped Ginny's seatbelt and shut the door.
"Nothing, Minister," Katie said.
Bellatrix used the rearview mirror to glare at Katie suspiciously while Tonks walked around the car and hopped into the passenger seat.
"We're ready to go," Tonks declared.
With practiced precision, Bellatrix shifted the car into gear and zoomed out of the garage and into the early morning sky at warp speed. Once her heartbeat slowed and she had become accustomed to Bellatrix's driving, Ginny fell asleep until the car's steep descent into London awoke her.
Curious, Ginny observed as Bellatrix landed the car on a London street, drove a block, turned and zoomed down an alley. Ginny gasped as Bellatrix accelerated toward a brick wall. The car passed effortlessly through the wall, and Ginny realized that the alley was something like Platform 9 ¾. Behind the brick wall was a long tunnel that eventually opened into a parking garage. Bellatrix guided the BMW past a couple of small rows of parking and then into a special parking spot designated for the Minister of Magic.
Tonks, Katie, and Bellatrix then helped Ginny out of the car and debated about how to get Ginny up to Bellatrix's office. In the end, they decided that Bellatrix would maintain a subtle levitation spell on Ginny so that both Tonks and Katie could have their wands ready in case there was an incident. The group then proceeded to a lift, which carried them to the corridor of fireplaces near the Atrium.
The opening lift doors revealed that there was a crowd of reporters waiting for Bellatrix. Tonks and Katie eyed each other worriedly as Bellatrix muttered a phrase that caused Ginny to blush. Bellatrix then strode forward. Bellatrix's levitation spell, which was causing Ginny to float just an inch off the floor, dragged Ginny along. Tonks and Katie, warily eyeing the crowd, flanked Bellatrix and Ginny.
"Minister Black," shouted a reporter who was walking rapidly to keep up with Bellatrix's progress toward the Atrium, "there are rumors of an impending invasion by a Dark Lord. Would you care to comment?"
"There is a possibility of invasion," Bellatrix said, not even breaking stride. "I have instructed Director Longbottom to prepare to repel it and advised him where he should focus his efforts. Additionally, the Chief Unspeakable has already begun to bolster our defenses with specially designed wards. In a couple of days, I will hold a press conference to explain my plans to counter this threat in greater detail."
"Why aren't you explaining your plans right now?" another reporter demanded as she gestured for her photographer to get shots of Bellatrix, Ginny, and her bodyguards entering the Ministry Atrium.
"Because I have not finalized my plans," Bellatrix said smoothly.
"Why didn't you announce this threat immediately after learning of it?" the reporter pressed.
"There is a certain amount of value in being able to erect defenses before you enemy realizes you know about him," Bellatrix said coldly, finally stopping just short of the security check gate and turning her back to it so she could face the reporters.
Ginny realized that Bellatrix had just accomplished two things. She had moved herself toward more Aurors and a position that worked more to Tonks's and Katie's advantage. She had also positioned herself so that any pictures taken by the photographers would have the best view of the Atrium in the background.
"Wizards and witches of Britain," Bellatrix said, her voice suddenly being amplified throughout the Atrium as flash bulbs flashed incessantly, "within minutes of learning of the threat, I began taking steps to investigate it and to protect our country. My spies assure me that there is no immediate threat of invasion. Even if they are wrong, any invading force will find it extremely difficult to transport themselves to our soil because of defensive mechanisms I directed the Chief Unspeakable to have installed. And, even if our enemies make it to our soil, they will find Director Longbottom and his forces forewarned and well-prepared to fight. Moreover, I intend to neutralize the threat at its root. In that endeavor, I expect to deploy a sizable number of Ministry personnel and expend many Ministry resources. I have great faith in the talents of our Ministry employees and expect that any use of Ministry resources will prove to be a good investment for future peace and security."
"What happens if there is an attack?" another reporter demanded. "What should the average witch or wizard do?"
"I suggest that those not trained to fight the invaders run or hide and then notify the authorities as soon as possible," Bellatrix said. "Because Director Longbottom will be directly responsible for repelling an invasion, you should consult with him about such logistics."
"What about Lord Black?" shouted somebody, not a reporter, but possibly a Ministry employee or someone who had come to the Ministry on personal business.
"My husband and I are in this together," Bellatrix said. "He has helped make the plans I will announce in a couple of days. If it is any comfort to you, he has personally reviewed the information provided by our spies and does not believe that there is a threat of imminent invasion."
"Where is he now?" someone in the growing crowd asked.
"The answer to that question is confidential," Bellatrix responded. "All I will say is that he is working behind the scenes to ensure our safety."
With that, Bellatrix turned and passed through the security gate, ignoring the questions the reporters were shouting. Ginny watched the floor glide by beneath her feet and wondered if any of the reporters would ask questions about what she was doing with Bellatrix.
"Well, that wasn't so bad," Tonks said as the group rode the lift to the floor that housed Bellatrix's office.
"If you say so," Bellatrix responded cynically.
Katie braved a comment. "The news that your husband is working behind the scenes will be very comforting, considering how your husband fought against Lord Voldemort from the shadows during the last war. It will be just like old times when the Death Eaters trembled at the mention of your husband's name."
Tonks grinned. "Maybe you should have just announced that Harry was taking care of things instead of making that big announcement."
Bellatrix smiled for a moment and the frowned. "I hope that he is being careful," she said as they walked toward her office. They entered the reception area and found Sidra working at the receptionist desk.
"Sidra," Bellatrix said, "summon Director Wanker to my office unless he can unequivocally deny that he is responsible for the presence of the press corps downstairs. I want to give him a piece of my mind."
Sidra nodded, seeming to know to whom Bellatrix was referring.
Bellatrix then levitated Ginny into her office and with the help of Tonks and Katie, settled Ginny onto a comfortable couch where Ginny almost immediately fell asleep.
~!~!~!~!~!~!
In the Para Bellum dimension . . .
"And then they said that even if they gave me a family discount, the minimum price for a ride is two sickles," Ron told Hermione morosely as they both looked out one of the castle's windows and down at the Weasley twins who were raking in money by selling rides on the giant frogs the Black triplets had supplied for the prank-sting that had ousted Umbridge.
"Why is that the minimum price?" Hermione asked, sounding vaguely outraged, as she watched the Weasley twins profit from prior night's prank.
"Apparently they have a deal with Professor Dumbledore to split profits and earn the costs of the frogs' upkeep," Ron said.
Hermione's mouth dropped open. "Are you saying that the Headmaster is part of that money-making venture? He's participating in the exploitation of innocent frogs!"
"Well, apparently Dumbledore tried to turn them loose into the Forbidden Forest, but Hagrid starting crying that they were just babies. The twins saw a business opportunity. They and Dumbledore get to make cash on the side and Hagrid gets to take care of them without any concern for the cost of food and whatnot," Ron explained.
"They're not babies," a voice came from behind Ron and Hermione. "They were full adults before we got our hands on them and had them transfigured."
Ron and Hermione whirled around and discovered all three of the Black triplets standing behind them, wearing cheeky smiles.
"Every animal is to be babied, according to Hagrid," Ron explained.
"Yeah, we know. We have a Hagrid in our dimension, too," Violet said.
"What are you doing here?" Hermione asked.
"We got permission from Dumbledore to sit in on some of your classes," one of the green-eyed triplets, either Ivy or Holly, said. "We thought you might like to show us the way to your classes."
"Um, okay," Ron said, clearly hesitant.
"We won't cause any trouble . . . for you," one of the triplets said reassuringly.
"We'll see about that," Hermione muttered.
"So, what class is next?" Violet asked.
"I'm going to Arithmancy," Hermione admitted hesitantly. "After that, Potions."
"I have a free period and then Potions," Ron said, suddenly and happily realizing that he would only have to play host to the triplets in one class.
"See you in Potions," Holly said, smiling at Ron as Violet and Ivy prodded Hermione to lead the way to Arithmancy.
Hermione led the triplets to the Arithmancy classroom and explained to Professor Vector that the triplets were visiting students with special permission to audit the class. Within about five minutes of class starting, it became clear to Professor Vector that the triplets' knowledge of Arithmancy far surpassed that of her other students, so she produced a number of extremely complicated problems for the triplets to work on.
Occupied by the Arithmancy problems, the triplets did not cause any trouble or embarrassment for anybody, and Hermione began to believe that the triplets would be on their best behavior for Potions—but she was wrong. It seemed that the triplets knew very little about Potions. Instead of attempting to learn, they dedicated themselves to harassing Professor Snape and anybody else the triplets had concluded deserved their attentions.
"Wait, is this a bat spleen or a cow spleen?" Ivy asked Professor Snape, using her knife to point to a large spleen resting on the cutting board.
"What do you think it is, Ms. Black?" Snape replied acidly.
"I think I don't know what it is," Ivy said sagely, rubbing her chin for good effect, dodging Snape's attempt to force her to reason that the spleen on the cutting board was larger than a bat and therefore probably a cow spleen.
"Maybe you should look it up in remedial textbook," Snape shot back.
"Do you have many of those?" Ivy asked.
"I have a number of them available for student use," Snape growled, pointing to a bookshelf on the wall of the classroom.
"Thank you," Ivy said.
As soon as Snape turned his back, Ivy picked up the spleen and with a great heave tossed it across the room. With a loud splash, it landed in Pansy Parkinson's cauldron.
"Do you think it's going to explode now?" Holly asked Hermione in a conspiratorial whisper.
"No," Hermione said, trying to sound disapproving, "but Pansy's potion is now completely ruined."
"Now, we get see whether she's smart enough to notice that a humongous portion of cow just landed in her potion," Violet said, setting her elbows on a table, resting her chin on her hands, and watching Pansy flirt with Draco.
Ron was quietly laughing while working on his own potion.
"I can't believe that you three don't have the first clue about Potions," Hermione whispered angrily. "Aren't you practically Unspeakables in your dimension?"
The triplets all grinned.
"Happily, we will never have to worry about getting transferred into a division of the Department of Mysteries that makes potions," Holly defended. "Besides, in most cases, the Department just purchases their potions from independent contractors."
"What makes you so confident that you'll never be assigned job duties that require you to have a substantial knowledge of Potions?" Hermione demanded.
"We're slated for permanent assignment to the DARC division of the Department of Mysteries," Ivy said smugly as she leaned back, crossed her arms, and watched Pansy's potion.
Hermione was beginning to feel cross. "So basically, your mommy is going to give you your jobs, then."
"We get to work for DARC regardless of who is Minister of Magic," Violet said in a placating tone of voice, still watching Pansy's cauldron closely.
"How is that even possible?" Hermione demanded.
Violet responded. "The Dark Arts Realities Compact, passed by the Wizengamot while our father was Minister of Magic, created DARC. By law, the Chief Unspeakable must hire and assign Unspeakables to that division, if possible. Currently, DARC's only employees are on inactive status. Happily, we have the unique and rare qualifications for employment in DARC. Therefore, when we show up on the Chief Unspeakable's doorstep and present our credentials, she will have to hire us."
"I wish I could get hired because I had a special skill like that," Ron said morosely.
"You can," Ivy said encouragingly. "You're the only person I've ever met that would enthusiastically accept a job coaching the Chudley Cannons. At least, the only such person who actually knows anything about Quidditch . . ."
"Good point," Ron said thoughtfully.
"Shush!" Violet said as she and her two sisters simultaneously leaned forward and gazed excitedly at Pansy's cauldron.
"What?" Hermione said.
Pansy's cauldron abruptly exploded. When the smoke cleared, instead of a cauldron standing in front of Pansy, there was a deranged cow with long fangs. It let out a loud moo and began foaming at the mouth.
"Vampire cow!" Daphne Greengrass yelled as the students in the vicinity screamed and ran to the other side of the room.
"You!" Snape yelled as he moved across the room toward Ivy.
Ivy stared back at Snape with wide, innocent eyes. "How is that my fault?"
"Where's your cow spleen?" Snape demanded.
"Ummm . . ." Ivy said, not coming up with a good response. "I ate it?"
"You cast some spell on it and threw it into Ms. Parkinson's potion. When it absorbed the potion's magical energy, your spell activated!" Snape accused.
"And?" Ivy said.
"And, you're in trouble!" Snape declared.
"Oh," Ivy said.
"Uh, Professor, were you planning to do something about the rabid vampire cow in your classroom?" Holly asked. "For your information, it's set to go on rampage in a few minutes."
Snape turned to look at the cow, and the triplets disappeared in a blinding flash of light.
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In the Delenda Est dimension . . .
"You don't have to feel bad that you aren't reading my thoughts," Tonks told Ginny. "The fact that you can sense my Occlumency barriers is a good sign. If you were doing this on somebody without Occlumency barriers, you'd be in their mind already."
Ginny sighed. "Can't you just lower your Occlumency shields so I can get a taste of what I'm doing? I'm sure it would be a great help."
"That is not necessary," Bellatrix said from overly ornate chair behind her desk, where she sat editing a draft of the Articles of War she would be asking the Wizengamot to pass.
"Why not?" Ginny grumbled.
The door to Bellatrix's office banged open and cut off Bellatrix's answer to Ginny's demand. Standing in the doorway was a wizened old man. It took Ginny a moment, but eventually, she realized that the old man was Alastor Moody.
"I hear there's a war on," he declared loudly.
Bellatrix shot Moody an annoyed glance as he shut the door behind him, limped across the room, and helped himself to one of the chairs in front of her desk.
"Well, didn't you hear me? And people say I'm going deaf . . ."
"I heard you," Bellatrix said. "I was not aware that your declaration required a response."
"Don't sass me, girl!" Moody shouted as Bellatrix, Tonks, and Ginny winced at the old wizard's volume.
"I'm pretty sure he really is deaf," Tonks whispered to Ginny.
"What was that?" Moody called across the room.
"Nothing," Tonks responded, loud and clear.
Moody turned his attention back to Bellatrix. "I want back into the Auror Corps." He produced an official-looking piece of parchment from a pocket in his robes and slapped it down on her desk. "If you sign that, I'll start coordinating the appropriate people, and we can get this fight on the road."
Bellatrix look down at the document and then up to Moody. "I am not going to commission a nursing home resident to be an Auror. In any case, I do not think you really understand the nature of the situation."
"For your information, it is a retirement home," Moody defended. "It provides regular, nutritious meals and cultural activities. I may be a little slower in my old age, but I am as sharp as ever. And yes, I do know what is going on. I have connections inside of the Ministry."
Bellatrix rolled her eyes.
"He could be one of my lieutenants," Tonks chimed in, leaving Ginny's side and moving across the room toward Bellatrix's desk. "His advice would be invaluable. Many of the Aurors likely to volunteer for the cause will have no experience whatsoever with fighting in a war against a Dark Lord. He doesn't need to appear on the battlefield to be useful."
"Exactly," Moody said, nodding in agreement.
"And," Tonks said, plowing on, "as an Auror Lieutenant, his duties would be flexible. The Auror Corps has nothing to lose and plenty to gain from bringing Alastor on board."
"Truly, your oration and persuasion skills are beyond measure," Bellatrix said, the inflection of her voice reflecting a small amount of sarcasm.
"Hurry up and sign off on me rejoining the Auror Corps," Moody demanded. "Nymphadora and I need to get down to the DMLE and start recruiting."
Ginny held her hand to her mouth to hide a giggle as she watched a tinge of red creep into Tonks's hair to signify that Tonks was annoyed at the use of her given name. Given the situation, though, Tonks did not seem ready to make an issue of it.
Bellatrix was suddenly looking thoughtful. "So, you are planning to immediately go down to the DMLE and recruit Aurors for the cause?"
"Certainly," Moody declared. "And, if we have to, we can start recruiting outside of the Ministry."
"Indeed," Bellatrix said, suddenly looking excited. She grabbed the parchment. Using a quill, she signed the order that commissioned Moody as an Auror and made an extra notation regarding his rank. "There you go. You and Nymphadora go down to the DMLE, right now."
Moody saluted. "Yes, ma'am."
Moody and Tonks then made toward the door.
"Hey," Ginny said weakly, "Tonks was in the middle of a lesson with me."
"It is your nap time anyway," Bellatrix said, picking up the draft Articles of War and settling back into her chair.
~!~!~!~!~!~
As soon as Tonks and Moody stepped onto the lift, Tonks began chortling. "You do realize that the only reason she signed off on you being an Auror is that she knew it would infuriate Director Longbottom to have you tromping around his Department of Magical Law Enforcement doing her bidding, don't you?"
Moody smiled grimly. "That is what I was counting on."
Tonks grinned and shook her head ruefully. "I don't know whether it's a good idea for the leader of the effort to be motivated by vindictiveness. Fortunately, we've got Harry, who I hope is pulling strings in the background."
Moody responded. "In some ways, I shudder at the thought of Bellatrix being in charge of everything at a time like this. But in other ways, I take comfort."
The lift dinged, announcing that Tonks and Moody had arrived at the DMLE.
"What do you mean?" Tonks asked as the lift doors opened.
"No matter how powerful, clever, or evil you are, it is really hard to outmaneuver crazy," Moody said, stepping off the lift and into the lobby of the DMLE. "Now, where to start? Is it true that Sirius is also an Auror Captain now?"
"Yes," Tonks said as the two of them walked down the DMLE halls.
"So you two are basically going to be in charge of the Aurors that go after this problem at the root, then," Moody mused. "That's good. The younger generation who are not yet disillusioned will flock to you, and the good old boys who are have reconciled their disillusions and are now merely bored with life will glom onto Sirius."
They arrived at the door of the employee lounge and paused. Startling even Tonks, Moody abruptly kicked open the door and began shouting. "Constant Vigilance!"
~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~
When Ginny next awoke, Tonks was still gone, but Bellatrix remained and was now hosting a visit from the Arthur Weasley of Bellatrix's dimension. When Arthur noticed that Ginny had awoken and was watching him and Bellatrix, he shot her a friendly smile before turning his attention back to the stack of parchment that contained Bellatrix's proposed Articles of War.
After several minutes of silence, Arthur set the Articles of War down on the desk. "It should not be too much trouble to get the Wizengamot to vote in favor of your proposals," he said. "They are mostly standard fare."
"Good," Bellatrix said. "How soon can we call a vote in the Wizengamot?"
"The day after tomorrow," Arthur said. "That will give me time to discuss everything with the most influential Wizengamot members tomorrow. I should warn you that there are a couple of things in your Articles that will not be easy to get the Wizengamot to approve."
Bellatrix directed a mutinous stare toward Arthur.
Arthur pressed on. "The Wizengamot is not going to be inclined to let you designate your own successor."
"It would only be for the duration of the war," Bellatrix defended. "And in any case, it is a remote contingency. I sincerely doubt that I am going to get killed."
"I don't think that argument is going to overcome objections," Arthur said doubtfully.
"This is a war against two Dark Lords," Bellatrix argued back. "As you can see, I have designated Hermione to succeed me as Minister if I fall. She has unique training to fight the Dark Arts. Everybody knows she is qualified. Moreover, she is not political. She will step down without protest when the war is over. The last thing we need is the Wizengamot squabbling over who should be Minister in the middle of hostilities where the Ministry needs to be making quick and informed executive decisions."
Arthur sighed. "I suppose those arguments are reasonable. I think I can persuade enough Wizengamot members to support making Hermione the Minister of Magic in an emergency. But, you seem to have also designated who is to be Minister if Hermione dies."
"Same reasons," Bellatrix said crossly. "It would only be during the war, and it is strictly necessary."
"There is absolutely nobody in the Wizengamot, except for maybe me, that is going to approve making any of your daughters Minister of Magic, even if they were not underage."
"But it would not be all three of them. I have designated that Gemma becomes Minister of Magic first," Bellatrix said. "Then, if she's dead, her sisters jointly act as Minister of Magic."
"What about Harry?" Arthur asked. "If I went down to the Wizengamot this very moment and announced that Harry wants to be Minister of Magic, they would vote him in without question, even over your objection. He is widely respected. No offense to you."
"Harry absolutely does not want to be the Minister of Magic under any circumstance," Bellatrix said. "You can count on him to fight against these Dark Lords as long as he is alive, but he will resist being shoved into political office."
"Are you really determined that your daughters become Minister in the event of an emergency? Is it necessary?"
"Yes, it is absolutely necessary," Bellatrix replied. "The triplets are the only ones who know what Hermione and I know. If, Merlin forbid, Hermione and I are gone, the triplets will be the only ones on our side who know enough about the Dark Arts to properly supervise the preparation of our defenses and develop strategies to undermine the Dark Lords' power."
A long moment passed before Arthur responded. "You and Hermione have trained them in the Dark Arts, haven't you?" Arthur said, letting out a sigh.
"More than just the Dark Arts," Bellatrix said, not looking Arthur in the eye.
There was a long pause as Arthur took this new information in. Finally, he moved on. "Harry loves his daughters, doesn't he? And they do whatever he tells them to do. I will attempt to persuade the Wizengamot that if they allow a Black triplet to be Minister, they will, in fact, have Harry has Minister. If they look at it in that way, I think they might be persuaded."
"Excellent," Bellatrix said, suddenly smiling. "I will let you get to your work, then."
"Very well," Arthur said, heaving himself up and departing from the office after bidding Bellatrix and Ginny farewell.
~!~!~!~!~!~!
For Ginny, the journey back to Ravenbourgh from the Ministry was uneventful, save for Bellatrix's palatable irritation at not being allowed to drive her own car. Auror Bell had been sitting behind the wheel of the BMW when Bellatrix, Tonks, and Ginny arrived in the parking garage. Faced with Bellatrix's narrow-eyed glare, the former Quidditch player, turned Auror, had smiled innocently while Tonks shepherded Bellatrix and Ginny into the backseat.
At Ravenbourgh, Ginny was surprised to discover a large dinner and an unusual number of guests waiting for the dinner to be served. Bellatrix's arrival served as the signal for the dinner to begin, and Ginny found herself pushed along with the crowd into Ravenbourgh's formal dining room. She spied the Harry of her own dimension sitting near one of the ends of the long dining room table. Moving quickly, she managed to snag a seat next to him.
"What's happening?" Ginny asked.
"I think there is about to be some sort of war council," Harry said tiredly. He nodded toward Leo Black, who was chatting with the Weasley twins. "He really put me through the wringer today. He seems to think that he might not be able to teach me in the future, so he gave me a long list of exercises and homework assignments for me to study independently."
"You're probably right," Ginny said in a low voice. "The Wizengamot is about to vote on Articles of War. Bellatrix is trying to force them make Hermione the Minister of Magic if Bellatrix gets killed. And, if Hermione gets killed, the triplets will become Minister of Magic."
"Sounds like she's planning to fight on the front lines," Harry said thoughtfully, looking down toward where Bellatrix had sat at the head of the long table. He then shot a glance to the vacant chair at the head of the table opposite from Bellatrix. "I think their Harry is already on the front lines."
Ginny looked at Harry Black's empty chair thoughtfully. "I think you may be right," she said. "Bellatrix said today that he's working behind the scenes. I could tell that she is worried. What he's doing must be risky."
"I wonder when they'll let us go home," Harry said.
"I don't know," Ginny said, feeling sleepy.
~!~!~!~!~!~!
In the Para Bellum dimension . . . .
Professor Dumbledore and Lieutenant Sirius crossed a street and casually strolled toward the building that contained the magically concealed office space that Captain Sirius and the triplets had appropriated for their Ministry of Magic's use.
"I'm fairly confident that if there was any news, they would have passed it on," Lieutenant Sirius said to Dumbledore.
"I know," the aged wizard admitted. "The thing is, we need to work maintaining our connections and building our relationships."
"We also need to spy on them," Lieutenant Sirius said cynically.
"Yes, that too," Dumbledore admitted with a rueful smile. "The more we interact, the more we will learn about what they are doing from day to day. And, maybe, we will get an opportunity to participate in some of their clandestine activities."
As Dumbledore and Sirius entered the lobby of the skyscraper that had been dubbed "The Tower of London," they passed three construction workers dressed in neon-colored safety vests and white safety helmets. The workers appeared to be attempting to flip over a slab of sidewalk concrete. Inside the building, Dumbledore and Sirius boarded one of the lifts and rode up and down for twenty minutes attempting to gain access to the secret suite where the triplets and Sirius lived before giving up.
"Either they are not home or don't want to talk to us," Dumbledore sighed.
"Probably having lots of fun without us," Sirius said morosely.
"Or doing something important," Dumbledore mused.
"Oh, well," Sirius said, heading toward the doors that led onto the street.
Dumbledore and Sirius had just stepped out onto the street and were preparing to find an abandoned alley in which to apparate when Dumbledore spoke up. He pointed to the three construction workers. "I think those are the droids we are looking for."
"The whats?" Sirius demanded.
"Never mind," Dumbledore said, walking toward the construction workers.
As Dumbledore and Sirius drew closer, it became apparent that the three construction workers were indeed the Black triplets and that they were having a disagreement with a constable.
"Ladies," the constable said. "I can personally guarantee you that any construction permit written out in crayon is bogus. You need to stop what you are doing before I arrest you for willfully disobeying a law enforcement authority."
The triplets were stared back at the constable petulantly. One of them spoke. "We're just following orders."
"And what I'm saying is that those orders are clearly illegal," the constable said. "Tell your boss I said so."
At that point, one of the triplets stepped discreetly to the side of the constable, drew her wand, and cast a memory charm on him. The Muggle constable's face went blank.
"What happened?" the constable asked, obviously dazed. "What were we talking about? I forgot."
Another one of the triplets nodded toward Dumbledore. "You were just about to give that elderly man a citation for public urination."
Sirius gasped.
"But," another triplet said, quickly jumping into the conversation, "we were just convincing you to let him off this one time on account of him being a veteran of the . . ."
"Napoleonic Wars," Dumbledore supplied, his blue eyes twinkling.
"Yes," the triplet said, confirming Dumbledore's claim while the other two triplets nodded sagely.
"Very well," the constable said, clearly still under some magical influence. "Have a good evening then." He turned away and began walking off.
"That was a superb notice-me-not charm you ladies were using when we walked by originally," Dumbledore said as he and Sirius watched the triplets cast some new charms to prevent the Muggles from paying too much attention to their activities on the street.
"Why, thank you," one of the triplets said as they jointly cast levitation charms, lifted a slab of sidewalk concrete, and set it on its side.
"What are you doing?" Sirius asked.
"Wards," Violet responded.
"And you seem to be doing a good job," Dumbledore said as he and Lieutenant Sirius watched the triplets inscribe runes onto the concrete. "Could you tell us where the estimable Captain Black is? We would like to visit with him."
"He went sightseeing," one of the triplets responded as she slowly moved her wand over the concrete slab.
"You mean spying, don't you?" Lieutenant Sirius demanded.
"Obviously," Violet said over her shoulder. "Isn't that what spies do? See sights they are not supposed to see?"
"Right," Dumbledore said as Sirius shot an annoyed glance at the triplets. "Do you know when he might be back?"
"No."
Dumbledore shrugged. "Well, perhaps you could allow us to assist you in preparing the wards for this building. I happen to be very knowledgeable in the area. Perhaps we will get lucky and still be around when Captain Black returns."
The triplets smiled widely at Dumbledore and Sirius.
"Your help would be appreciated," Violet declared as Ivy and Holly beamed smiles at Dumbledore and Sirius.
"There's just one condition," Dumbledore said, his blue eyes twinkling.
All three triplets narrowed their eyes at him.
"If I help you set up your wards around this building, I do not want you causing any disturbances at Hogwarts without my permission."
The triplets all frowned.
"What about if you help us, we will cause no more than two disturbances at Hogwarts within a seven-day period?" Violet counteroffered.
"No disturbances without my permission," Dumbledore reiterated, holding firm to his original offer.
"One disturbance a month?" Violet pressed.
"No disturbances without my permission."
"Do the Hogwarts grounds count? What about the Forbidden Forest?" Violet asked.
"What do you think?" Lieutenant Sirius said harshly. "Take it or leave it."
"Fine," Violet groused, "but neither of you are allowed to leave here until all the wards are done."
Dumbledore smiled happily. "Fair enough."
~!~!~!~!~!~!
"Considering the complete lack of security measures around this place, I'm guessing that the local Dark Lord does not live here, and probably does not visit very often," Captain Sirius said as he vigorously shook a can of Muggle spray paint.
"You may be right," Harry Ashworth Black agreed, watching with a faint smile as Sirius began spray painting random symbols and stick figures on the stone wall that ran around the perimeter of the Malfoy estate.
Captain Sirius hummed to himself happily as he decorated the wall and as Harry paced back and forth near the front gate either muttering to himself or quietly casting spells. Eventually Sirius ran out of paint. Grinning, he stepped back from the wall to admire his work.
Harry walked over and examined Sirius's handiwork. "I'm sure whoever sees it will be disgusted and amused," Harry said diplomatically.
"I don't care if they are amused," Sirius said. "Their disgust is what will amuse me. The only thing that saddens me is that mere magic will be able to remove all of this."
"Good news," Harry said, waving his wand at the paint and casting a few charms. "It is now all but permanent."
"Wow, how'd you do that?" Sirius asked.
"With my wand," Harry replied, deadpan.
"Obviously," Sirius said, grouchily. "How can you make it stick, though? This isn't your manor."
Harry held up his hand. On one of his fingers sat the Malfoy family ring. "Your artwork is now a nearly permanent addition to the Malfoy estate."
"How did you get Draco to let your borrow that?" Sirius asked, smirking as he looked back at his artwork.
"Bella made some threats and bought him a couple of bottles of vodka. And of course, we pointed out that the only reason he has it in the first place is that I gave it to him after his grandfather disowned the family and gave it to me," Harry said. "Now come on, I've decided the best approach is to just walk in."
"Fantastic," Sirius said, following Harry.
Harry used some of his magic and the power granted to him by the Malfoy ring to pass through the front gate and onto the grounds of Malfoy Manor. Sirius followed. As they walked through the gardens, Sirius found a birdbath and tossed the empty can of spray paint into it. He then drew his wand and dutifully began to scan their surroundings with eyes trained from years of Auror experience.
Not wasting any time, Harry proceeded swiftly to the kitchen door. It unlocked for Harry, and in short order, the Malfoy house elves were staring in shock at the first wizards to have stepped foot in the Malfoy kitchens in centuries.
"You is Harry Potter," one of the elves said slowly.
"He is, but he is not," another said slowly.
"Please forget that we were ever here," Harry said briskly, leading Sirius out of the kitchen and into a hallway.
"Whoever is home is at dinner," Sirius said. "Those house elves are getting ready to serve dessert."
"Did it look like a good dessert?" Harry asked.
"Absolutely," Sirius said. "Do you think we could have some?"
"If you want," Harry said, leading Sirius up a flight of stairs to what appeared to serve as the main floor of Malfoy Manor.
Quickly and quietly, Harry and Sirius placed magic detection wards throughout the manor and determined that the only people manor besides themselves were Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy, who were sitting in the main dining room quietly enjoying their evening meal.
"So, am I the good cop?" Sirius whispered.
"If you think that's going to help me get what I want," Harry said.
"I'll play it by ear, then," Sirius said judiciously.
Making no reply, Harry briskly walked toward the main dining room of Malfoy Manor, wand in hand. Sirius followed. Unfortunately for the Malfoys, they were seated at the ends of the long dining room table, and only somebody sitting at the middle of the table and facing the dining room entranceway would have seen Harry and Sirius coming.
Before Lucius Malfoy could even open his mouth to gasp, Harry had disarmed him. Within another second, Harry had magically restrained Lucius. Sirius was able do the same to Narcissa only a fraction of a second more slowly than Harry had done to Lucius.
"Greetings, Lucius," Harry said as he swished his wand twice and magically moved the chairs holding Lucius and Narcissa to the same end of the table. He conjured another pair of chairs for himself and Sirius. Sirius promptly positioned the new chairs so that he and Harry would be able to watch the doors and windows while they sat and spoke with the Malfoys.
"Who are you?" Lucius demanded, his fear well hidden behind a mask of haughtiness.
"I don't know that my identity is particularly relevant to you," Harry said, sitting down. "Suffice it to say that I am something of a rival to your precious Dark Lord. I am here with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity especially for you."
"What is this opportunity?" Lucius asked casually, as he eyed Sirius who instead of sitting down, had taken to patrolling the perimeter of the dining room.
"I am going to allow you to join my army and donate the majority of your money to me," Harry said. "In exchange for your services, I will arrange to have fifty years subtracted from any prison sentence you receive for crimes you have committed before now."
Lucius sneered at Harry. "You must be insane if you think I will accept your offer."
Harry directed a frosty stare at Lucius. "You would be insane not to accept my offer."
"No," Lucius said shaking his head. "You want to take my money and send me to prison. If I continue to serve the Dark Lord, I will be one of his lieutenants when he conquers Britain."
"No, you will be his chief slave," Harry said. "You will spend the rest of your life licking the Dark Lord's boots and attempting to put down rebellions before he can find out about them and become angry. Failures will be punished severely. And you will never be allowed to retire peacefully. If you are not actively serving him, you will be dead."
"He wouldn't kill me. I'm too valuable," Lucius protested.
"Nobody in the Dark Lord's organization is irreplaceable," Harry replied. "Although, I suppose it might be easier to kill or torture your wife and son than replace you . . . sometimes."
Sirius had ceased from patrolling the perimeter of the room and had stepped up behind Lucius and Narcissa. As Harry's most recent comment left his lips, Sirius grabbed Narcissa's shoulder from behind. She let out a startled shriek and then began quietly sobbing as soon as the initial surprise had passed.
"You understand nothing," Lucius snarled at Harry as Sirius came around and sat down in the chair next to Harry. "The Dark Lord is more powerful than anybody. He is more powerful than even Dumbledore. You would be well advised to recognize that, you fools."
Harry leaned back in the chair and quietly sighed to himself. "I had hoped to convince you because that would make it so much easier for everybody involved," Harry said. "I would like to think that I could eventually convince you and that you would see the light, given enough time. Unfortunately, we are a little short on that."
Lucius smirked at Harry. "You cannot convince me because I am right."
Harry made no response. He produced his wand and stunned Lucius. He then focused on Narcissa, who was now alternating her gaze between her unconscious husband and Harry. "All right, Narcissa. If you give us your full cooperation you can have fifty years deducted off any prison sentence you have earned up to this point. And, as a bonus, I will arrange for Draco to be removed to and kept in a place far away from the war."
Narcissa was already nodding her tearful agreement. "What do you need me to do?"
"We're going to need Lucius to take some truth serum so we can learn everything he already knows. Then comes the Imperius curses and a slew of memory modification spells," Harry said. "Sirius, here, will explain and get the process started. In the meantime, I am going to make arrangements for your son."
Narcissa stared at Sirius, realizing for the first time that she was looking at somebody who bore a striking resemblance to Sirius Black. "Are you . . ."
"Yes and no," Sirius said.
Harry smiled faintly as he left the room and made his way to the kitchens. There, he instructed the house elves to serve dessert in the dining room. He then found a piece of parchment and began writing out instructions to his daughters. They would need to remove Draco from Hogwarts immediately.
~!~!~!~!~!~!~!
"Who taught you how to erect wards?" Dumbledore inquired as he frowned at one of the triplets who was etching runes into a concrete slab that would serve to bind and blend several of the wards Dumbledore had just helped them erect.
"That would be our mother," Violet responded.
"Your mother's methods are highly dangerous," Dumbledore said disapprovingly.
Violet shrugged. "I think that you will find they are also highly effective. Obviously, a certain amount of caution needs to be exercised, though."
"And are you exercising care and caution?" Dumbledore asked. "Are you aware that these wards are pulsating against each other in a way that could result in one or more of them wearing down and then failing thus leading to a chain reaction that would not only destroy all the wards but cause a magical explosion?"
"Why else would we have included an anti-unicorn and an anti-dolphin ward?" Violet demanded, pointing to the runes that anchored those specific wards. "We did it to help balance the pulsations."
"We thought you guys just really hated unicorns and dolphins," Lieutenant Sirius said, scratching his chin. "Or at least that's what I thought. Professor Dumbledore probably thought you were just being stupid."
At that moment, there was a small explosion near the triplets. Where the explosion had occurred, there was a piece of parchment resting on the sidewalk. Moving swiftly, Violet walked over, grabbed the parchment, and read it.
"What is it?" Dumbledore asked. "Who is that from? What does it say?"
Violet smiled widely at Dumbledore. "Orders from the top. You'll have to excuse us. We have been assigned an important mission that must be completed as soon as possible."
"May we accompany you?" Dumbledore asked.
Violet shook her head. "The bargain is that you cannot leave here until the wards are complete. You two keep working, and we will be back to help you finish as soon as possible. If you're good, we'll even bring you some refreshments."
~!~!~!~!~!~!~!
In the Delenda Est dimension . . .
"How come he gets booze?" Ron grumbled as he watched Draco Malfoy swig vodka from a hip flask.
"Because he brought his own," Hermione said, rolling her eyes.
"Surely they have some firewhiskey around here somewhere," Ron said, looking around the conference room located on one of the upper floors of Ravenbourgh. Unfortunately for him, both the conference table and the side tables in the room were completely barren of anything resembling food or drink.
Hermione swatted Ron and dragged him toward the table in the center of the room. "We've got bigger problems, and you're supposed to be part of the solution."
"You could have warned me that I should bring some booze, too," Ron sighed as he sat down.
As she took her seat next to him, Hermione glared at Ron from behind narrowed eyes.
Ron grinned at her. "I'm just teasing you."
"Ha, ha, ha," Hermione said, not sounding amused, even though she secretly was. Over the years, she had come to realize that she enjoyed sparring with Ron. She thought that he enjoyed it, too.
Somebody plunked a large nameplate down in front of Ron. Surprised, Ron and Hermione looked up to find that the Weasley twins had taken it upon themselves to ensure that everybody at the meeting had a nameplate in front of them.
"What is this for? Everybody here knows everybody else," Ron protested as he looked at the words "Ron Weasley" etched onto the nameplate the twins had put in front of him.
"We don't want any confusion, here," Fred Weasley declared, smiling mischievously as he placed a nameplate in front of Hermione's place at the table.
Bellatrix cut off any further discussion and outrage when she entered the room behind the last stragglers. She took her seat at the head of the table behind the nameplate provided for her by the Weasley twins. As Hermione glanced at the nameplate, she could have sworn for a moment that it read "Big Cheese," but when she took a second look, it merely read "Bellatrix."
"I think you all know why I have asked you to come here," Bellatrix said by way of introduction. "There are two Dark Lords in the next dimension over, and at least one of them is planning to come our way. I am counting on all of you to help find and execute a solution to this problem."
Hermione looked around the table and saw several grim nods. Present were herself and her husband, Ron. Also present were Leo and Rose, Draco and Sidra, the Weasley twins, Captain Tonks, and Alastor Moody. There were five vacant chairs at the table. Hermione assumed that they belonged to Sirius, Harry, and the triplets, all who were now in the other dimension.
"The strategy Harry and I have agreed on is that we need to move some of our forces and assets into the other dimension and stabilize the situation. While stabilizing the situation, Harry and I, assisted as needed by you or others, will attempt to get at the root of the problem."
"So basically, you are planning a repeat of the last war," Moody said. "You're trying to set up a Minister Prewitt situation and then pursue the same avenue you and Harry pursued at the end of the war."
"Basically, yes," Bellatrix admitted. "The Ghost of Ashworth probably will not factor in much. But, Harry and I will attempt to move quietly and swiftly as we try to find the weaknesses of both Dark Lords."
"What is the situation in the other dimension?" Fred Weasley asked.
Bellatrix shrugged. "It appears peaceful, but we have every reason to believe that the Dark Lords are actively building their armies. Their Ministry will have been infiltrated by Death Eaters already."
"Is their Ministry attempting to get a handle on the situation?" Fred asked.
"No," Bellatrix said. "As I understand it, their Minister of Magic is in denial of the situation, the Ministry employees are corrupt, and those who are not corrupt are probably Death Eaters. At some point in the near future, I suspect that the Dark Lords will be able to walk in and take control."
"Who is the Minister of Magic over there?" George asked.
Bellatrix rolled her eyes. "That would be Cornelius Fudge."
Draco choked on his vodka while several people groaned.
"So, achieving a situation similar to the times of Minister Prewitt would be a vast improvement, then," Moody said, sounding resigned.
"I am afraid so," Bellatrix responded. "The Order of the Phoenix in the other dimension has proposed that we help them clean house at their Ministry. They will identify the problem Ministry people, and we can help remove them. Then, they assure us, the Ministry will be able to fully cooperate with us in fighting the Dark Lords."
"Remove their rotten apples? How?" Moody asked.
"The triplets recently blackmailed Fudge into doing something they wanted. I think the Order is hoping that the triplets can blackmail him to do other things."
"That approach would be ridiculous," Ron declared.
Bellatrix eyed Ron. Her eyes went down to his nameplate, then back up to his face. "And what do you propose . . . Ronniekins?"
Outraged, Hermione snatched up Ron's nameplate, but it now read, "Ron." Both she and Ron glared at the Weasley twins, who each grinned back cheekily. Hermione set down Ron's nameplate, face down, and tipped her own nameplate over.
"Well?" Bellatrix asked, interrupting the byplay among the Weasley family.
"I suppose that plan is not completely ridiculous," Ron backpedaled. "My problem is that I think their Ministry needs to immediately take some sort of action against these Dark Lords before their armies reach critical mass. As it stands, even if you can force Fudge to do something, the corrupt and potentially treacherous nature of his underlings will result in any action being more harmful than helpful. There is no way you can weed out the bad ones before their Ministry needs to act."
Ron's argument elicited murmurs of agreement and an approving nod from Alastor Moody.
"What do you propose, then?" Bellatrix asked.
"March in and stage a coup," Ron said matter-of-factly. "And don't bother being quiet about it. Be upfront and heavy-handed. Make it clear that you will not tolerate rebellion. Then, immediately take action against the Dark Lords. You will need to achieve some sort of battlefield or strategic victory as soon as possible to help inspire confidence in the population. Finally, you can turn your attention to purging their Ministry and preparing to let those who are going to be helpful have control again."
Bellatrix frowned thoughtfully as those present began to argue among themselves about the merit of Ron's proposal. Eventually, Alastor Moody took lead of the discussion after the initial outburst of disorganized discussion.
"Quiet down!" Moody roared, silencing everybody. "I see some advantages to Ron's plan. First, it will allow us to impede the Dark Lords' progress as soon as possible without having to coordinate with a potentially uncooperative Ministry. Second, a show of strength will prevent the populace from believing that the Dark Lords' victory is inevitable. If the population believes that the Dark Lords' victory is inevitable, they will start joining or supporting him."
"You seem to be forgetting that the population is not likely to appreciate being conquered by foreigners," Sidra said. "For all you know, they might start some sort of rebellion against us."
"But what if their Order of the Phoenix tells everybody that they need to cooperate with us?" Ron countered. "If their Dumbledore is on our side, surely people will refrain from open rebellion."
"That could work," Moody said. He looked toward Bellatrix. "What do you think?"
"As I understand the situation, Dumbledore has been sounding the warning about the upcoming war for several months. Fudge has been making denials and using the press to discredit Dumbledore. Thanks to Fudge, Dumbledore is somewhat lacking in credibility," Bellatrix said, suddenly beginning to look exhausted.
"I think that Ron and Alastor should privately discuss the strategies and options after this meeting and then report at the next meeting," Hermione said.
"That sounds like a good idea to me," Bellatrix said. "Let us move to the next item of business. Leo?"
Leo cleared his throat and looked around at everybody. "Bellatrix talked to me earlier about finding a way to fund our operations in the other dimension. I can use gold from our dimension to start investing in their dimension. By using a number of unfair advantages, I should be able to double or even triple the investment in a short amount of time. At that point, I can return the original money to this dimension."
Everyone was nodding approvingly.
"Did Harry talk to you about other funding options?" Bellatrix asked.
"Yes," Leo said, smiling faintly. "Everything is under control. And, I will also plan to meet with the Order of the Phoenix in the other dimension and take up the role of Ambassador."
"Good," Bellatrix said. "Nymphadora? Alastor? What do you have for us?"
Tonks scowled at her aunt before answering. "Recruiting is going well. Director Longbottom is severely annoyed."
"Excellent," Bellatrix said, smiling. "Let me know if you need help from me."
"Hermione?" Bellatrix said, moving on.
"I have had wards placed everywhere across the country by now," Hermione said. "I'm still working out the options for the other dimension, seeing as the Dark Lords have already taken up residence there. There's no need for me to go into details."
Bellatrix nodded. "I think we have covered the ongoing concerns. I realize that not all of you have assignments yet, but they will come."
"Great," Draco said in a slurred voice.
"Yes, great," Bellatrix said, eyeing his vodka jealously. "I will send word for when we need to meet next."
~!~!~!~!~!~!~!
In the Para Bellum dimension . . .
"Where have you been?" Lieutenant Sirius demanded as Captain Sirius, whistling happily to himself, walked down the sidewalk toward where Dumbledore and Lieutenant Sirius were busily erecting wards around the so-called Tower of London, pursuant to their agreement with the Black triplets.
"Performing acts of espionage, of course," Captain Sirius said cheerfully.
"Were they profitable?" Dumbledore asked, his blue eyes twinkling.
"Indeed they were," Captain Sirius said, grinning widely. "In fact, you might say my activities have been profitable in multiple senses of that word."
"Would you care to elaborate?" Dumbledore asked.
"No," Captain Sirius responded. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and eyed the progress Lieutenant Sirius and Dumbledore had made on the wards. "So, where are the triplets?"
Captain Sirius shrugged. "I don't know. I thought they were the ones who were supposed to be erecting these wards. How did they manage to con you into doing it for them?"
Dumbledore eyed Sirius suspiciously over the top of his half-moon spectacles. "They were called away. They said it was orders from the top. We assumed it those orders were from you."
Captain Sirius looked at Dumbledore brightly. "Yes! That's right. I remember now. I sent them to raid the all-you-can-eat buffet at my favorite Las Vegas casino. I hope they can make it all the way back here without eating my share of the food."
"Who did those orders come from?" Dumbledore asked shrewdly. "Is there another person from your dimension in our dimension?"
"No comment," Captain Sirius said, walking away from Dumbledore and Lieutenant Sirius. He then stepped into the building that housed the secret suite of offices he and the triplets had set up.
Lieutenant Sirius stared suspiciously after him. "He's hiding something."
"Are there more people from their dimension in our dimension or has Minister Black found a way to send communications between the dimensions?" Dumbledore mused as he returned his focus to the ward erection process.
~!~!~!~!~!~!
Ron and Hermione were walking toward Gryffindor Tower from the direction of the library when Draco Malfoy abruptly jumped out from behind a suit of armor, his wand drawn and aimed at them.
"Don't move!" Draco yelled.
Reflexively, Ron's hand went for his wand as Hermione gasped loudly.
"I said don't move!" Draco yelled again, jabbing his wand at Ron in a threatening manner.
Hermione screamed, apparently hoping to attract attention to her and Ron's plight, but a muting charm cast by Draco cut it off. For good measure, Draco also cast a muting charm on Ron. He then reiterated his threat. "If you move, so help me, I will use a cutting hex to amputate your butt cheeks!"
Hermione's jaw dropped, and Ron took a threatening step toward Draco.
Draco brandished his wand. "I already told you to not move! Now, kiss!"
Ron and Hermione gasped silently.
"You heard me. Kiss each other."
Shocked, Ron and Hermione stared at Draco.
Angrily, Draco cast a pair of pinching hexes. "Don't make me get violent!"
Slowly, while trying to keep their eyes on Draco, Ron and Hermione moved toward each other. Blushing, they pecked each other on the lips and then turned back to Draco.
"That doesn't count," Draco scowled. "Do it again. I want to see passion!"
Ron and Hermione tried again, this time kissing each other deeply while blushing intensely.
"Good," Draco said approvingly. "Now, you will have to excuse me. I have a vendetta to pursue. I am leaving this stupid castle and all you Mudblood-loving fools behind. Long live the purebloods!" He then ran down the hall, shouting about pureblood supremacy and randomly casting spells that exploded loudly.
Cheeks still flaming red, Hermione drew her wand and cancelled the muting charms as soon as Draco was out of sight.
"Merlin's beard!" Ron exclaimed, alternating his gaze between Hermione and the part of the hall where Draco had disappeared from sight.
"We've got to figure out what's going on," Hermione said, sounding breathless.
"Yeah," Ron said.
They broke into a run, trying to catch up with Draco. Following his path was not hard. He was still casting spells that were exploding loudly. He seemed to be heading toward the castle's entrance hall. After a couple of minutes of running, Ron and Hermione arrived at the entrance hall on the heels of Professors McGonagall and Snape who had apparently heard the commotion and come to investigate.
"What is happening?" McGonagall asked as soon as she saw Ron and Hermione.
"Malfoy has gone crazy!" Ron responded as he tried to catch his breath.
"What?" Snape exclaimed.
"He said he's leaving," Hermione added.
Looking bewildered, the two professors joined the chase. When Ron, Hermione, McGonagall, and Snape got outside, they could see Draco still casting exploding spells and running toward the Forbidden Forest.
"Stop running and come back!" McGonagall commanded, using her wand to amplify her voice.
Snape cursed, drew his wand, and started casting stunners in an attempt to halt Draco's progress, but Draco dodged each of them. When he reached the edge of the Forbidden Forest, he stopped, turned around, and made a rude gesture toward his pursuers. He then raised his wand in the air and cast a spell. A ball of light shot from his wand, soared upward, and exploded into the Dark Mark. Draco Malfoy then ran into the forest and disappeared.
"What in Merlin's name just happened?" McGonagall wondered aloud.
~!~!~!~!~!~!
"We finished casting all the wards you requested over twenty minutes ago. Now, your dimension's Sirius is inside of there and won't let us in!" Lieutenant Sirius said angrily as soon as the Black triplets returned to the sidewalk outside of the Tower of London.
"He's probably just taking a shower," Violet said. She handed four plastic bags stuffed full of Chinese food takeout boxes. "We didn't know what you wanted to eat, so in the true tradition of one or the other of our parents, we ordered the entire menu."
Looking somewhat mollified, Lieutenant Sirius accepted the bags from Violet, who then led her sisters, Dumbledore, and Lieutenant Sirius to the lift.
"Did you perchance order fortune cookies?" Professor Dumbledore asked, smilingly benignly at the triplets as they stepped into the elevator.
"Most assuredly," Holly responded. She, too, was holding four plastic bags stuffed with food. One of the bags was a different color. "We stopped for the magical variety, too. The rest of the food we got is Muggle."
"I see," Dumbledore said. "Is the Muggle food better?"
"Most assuredly," Ivy said, mimicking her sister's previous response perfectly. "It's the same principle as the Muggle lemon drops. You need the Muggle chemicals for it to taste good."
Ivy was carrying no bags. Dumbledore wondered if the triplets had deliberately arranged for at least one of them to have her hands free for self-defense. In one way, he admired the triplets for being so shrewd. But, on the other hand, he felt bad that witches their age would find it necessary to be that shrewd.
They arrived in the suite to find Captain Sirius sitting on a couch, wearing a fuzzy bathrobe, and sipping a glass of firewhiskey.
"Welcome to the party!" he said.
"Why didn't you let us in?" Lieutenant Sirius demanded.
"I was naked," Captain Sirius replied.
"For half an hour?" Lieutenant Sirius shot back.
"Yep," Captain Sirius confessed, completely unabashed. He winked at Violet. "You'll find a case of butterbeer upstairs. Why don't you go up and bring that down."
"All right," Violet said.
~!~!~!~!~!~!
Violet found her father sitting on her bed in the office that she had claimed for her bedroom.
"You will be pleased to hear that Draco Malfoy is now the inmate of a women's prison." Violet declared.
Harry Ashworth Black grinned at his daughter and stood up. "Good girl. When it becomes convenient, see about transporting him to our dimension and holding him in isolation somewhere."
"What have you been doing?" Violet asked.
Harry explained. "Lucius Malfoy is now under our control. I have already been able to use him to locate one of the Dark Lords' hideouts. I paid it a visit and did a little bit of spying."
"What did you find?" Violet asked.
"Nothing good," Harry replied. "I want you to discreetly take a trip back to our dimension. Tell your mother that I want the Azkaban in this dimension under our control within twenty-four hours. Whoever is put in charge of the prison had also better be prepared for a large-scale assault."
"So, capture Azkaban and be prepared to prevent the next attackers from capturing it," Violet said.
"Yes," Harry said. He then pulled a flask from one of the pockets in his robes. "I could also use one of your hairs."
Violet rolled her eyes, but reached up and plucked a hair from her head and handed it to Harry without protest. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do."
Harry grinned as he accepted the strand of hair from his daughter. "I would think that you would be more concerned about me not doing what you would do." He opened the flask, inserted his daughter's strand of hair, and took a swig. In less than a minute, there were two Violets in the room.
"Happy trails," one of them said.