AN: Sunning it up in Portugal but still have time to update! Thanks for my review as always; nice to know people think I have talent! Will try to add more suspense!
Chapter 14
"Blaise," Harry yelled as he flooed into his ex-colleague's living room closely followed by his son, "where are you?" A noise in the kitchen indicated that he was in there and a moment later Zabini appeared in the doorway looking shocked to have been invaded without notice.
"Harry?" he asked recognising the man stood looking at him. "James?" he added seeing his young colleague jumping out of the fireplace behind his father, "What are-".
"The Ministry's been stormed by the High Lord," Harry explained and Zabini's mouth dropped open in horror, "they've taken the Minister and the auror department hostage and are demanding that they bow down to him," he finished, "what can we do?"
"They have all the aurors?" he asked.
"As far as we know, all the ones who were in the ministry; Lily managed to get out through the department of mysteries' floo and she said they took the aurors first before making their way through the rest of the ministry. Who might not have been there?" James said.
Immediately going into organisation mode Zabini ran to his desk in the living room and began to hastily scribble a note, "We'll have to get together everyone that we can; Jordan and Martika are still out on leave so I'll get them to come here immediately," he said rolling up the first note before hastily scribling another. "There might be a few others not in work today, or at least not on shift, but they've picked their time because I know there aren't many out on mission at the moment. I'll try whoever I can; and James see if you can contact anyone who might have been on nights last night." James nodded in response as his senior turned to look to his father asking, "Harry, do you think you'd be able to get any of the old Order members together? What about Ron and his brothers would they be able to fight if we need to?"
"Of course," Harry replied knowing they would step into the breech straight away when they knew who they were facing; the Lestranges had made many attempts on the lives of their family and all of them would be as eager to get revenge as to fight for their Ministry.
"Contact anyone you can; I'll try the secret channels into the ministry see if I can get any information from Beerney about what is going on; as you know the department of mysteries is not the only place with hidden floos and communication networks! But this is not good; if the Minister bows to him then…" he let the sentence drift allowing them to draw their own conclusions. "Tell everyone to meet here as soon as they can."
"We could use Grimmauld Place if you want," Harry suggested, "it's bigger and I can open the wards for today so people can get inside."
"Thank you Harry," Zabini replied seeing the sense; he knew it had been used as headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix many years ago and was secure, "I'll see you there as soon as possible."
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James and Harry returned separately to Grimmauld Place an hour later after contacting all the Weasley brothers and cousins; they in turn had hunted out old order members and friends who they knew would join the battle to get the ministry back from the low life trying to conquer it. James had tried some of the aurors' homes too and found a handful who had been there through the night and left before any of this had happened; donning their robes they had stood to attention ready as always to follow a chain of command and headed to James' childhood home while he hunted for more recruits. When he flooed in with Salamander, who had fortunately taken a day off with Rose, James was amazed at the sheer amount of people crammed into the kitchen of his former home. People had banded together for the crisis and it warmed his heart to think that they would do this when they were not combat trained aurors. He suddenly had a new understanding for how life had been when his father had had to fight against Voldemort and he was in awe of everyone in the room. His Uncles, along with some of their wives, were sat at the table drinking Ginny's coffee and waiting for instruction and his father went off to sit with Ron and Hermione who were at the top of the table with James' mother and Salamander's parents, Neville and Luna.
"Thank you for coming everyone." Blaise's voice rang out from the opposite end of the room and they all fell into a hushed silence so he could continue, "The news as it stands is not good," he continued morosely, "Lily told us that the Ministry was stormed this morning and they attacked the auror department first to put them out of action; they are currently wandless but I have been able to contact Beerney who has sent the message that so far everyone is safe but afraid. The High Lord, as he is calling himself, and a woman, who is as yet unidentified, have gone into the Minister's office themselves and taken her hostage demanding that she hand the Ministry over. So far we think she has held off but reports say he is using torture to try and bring her down," many people around the room gasped audibly and Zabini waited for the information to sink in before continuing. "Beerney's patronus said that they have followers in every department now who are holding everyone up by threat of death until the Minister caves. He seems to think they may start to kill randomly if she does not give him what he wants soon." More shocked tones ran through the room as people realised how dangerous the situation was and some, James could see, were starting to worry about their loved ones who were trapped inside the ministry. While they did not want the Minister to bow down to the High Lord they did want their friends and family to stay safe and alive. Over the last hour James had been madly trying to concentrate on what he needed to do not only because it was his job but also to stop himself worrying about the one person he was most scared for. His sister had come home sobbing about Raulph, who James knew would be in the auror department with the others; and he had felt for her immediately as he had realised that Holly would also be there and she wasn't even trained to deal with these kinds of situations. He wanted to get in there and help her, help the Minster and everyone else but he had to wait until he was sent and the wait seemed to be endless.
"Lily says that the department of mysteries has their own floo network which we don't think the High Lord is aware of; they sent as many people out of the department as they could before they were infiltrated and it is not easy to find so we believe it should still be undetected. This will be the only way to get into the ministry as the rest of the floo network has been shut down and anti-apparition wards have been set up on the entire place. We need to get into the Ministry through the department of mysteries and then get to the auror department as quickly as we can; there is another entrance which we believe they will not be covering as it is purposefully there for any situation like this and remains hidden to all but the aurors. If we get inside and can overpower the ones in there we will have the entire team to support us as we try to rescue as many of the innocent as possible." Zabini spoke gravely to the silent room as he continued, "But be warned; we are casting to kill if necessary; they will not think twice about doing it to you or anyone else with you; if they see you they will show no mercy and you must be prepared to do the same to them." The reactions to this statement varied around the room; the older members, who had dealt with this kind of conflict before, accepted Zabini's instruction with hardly a murmur; however the younger generations, who had not seen war or battles, were shocked at his insistence that they kill if they have to. "James, Harry, Ron, Hermione and I will go first and try to access the auror department; Martika and Jordan will follow on with some of you and follow us up to the department. Above all we need to move with stealth and avoid detection at all costs; even if we have to kill," he repeated looking sternly at everyone in the room who this time nodded their heads in reply. "Lily has instructed us on how to get through the department of mysteries and back so that should not pose too many problems so, are we ready?" he asked the room at large.
They all replied with a resounding "Yes."
He then turned immediately to James, Harry, Ron and Hermione who were waiting for him to lead the way before heading into the fireplace and calling, "The department of mysteries," then he disappeared from view in a whirl of green.
The others followed suit and emerged seconds later at the end of a small, thin dark room; the fireplace was at one end of it and along one wall were a series of doors each of which faced a glass window that seemed to house a goldfish bowl with an assortment of strange things inside them. James could see what looked like tentacles floating around in one while another held a contorted and fetal looking animal; a third contained what he could only assume was a brain and he noticed his Uncle Ron shudder a little as he said, "Glad they've got those things better contained these days." James looked curiously at him but did not have time to ask why as Zabini beckoned for them all to go to the furthest door away from them which he was opening cautiously.
Beyond the door was a long dark narrow corridor which seemed to disappear into the distance going on forever but within a few feet they had reached another small door and were out in a circular room which had twelve identical looking doors all around the edge of it. Another comment from his Uncle Ron told him that he had been here before and not had a good experience, "Oh great, it's the moving room again," he moaned as James' father closed the door behind them; the doors did indeed begin to lurch as soon as it was closed. When they stopped moving a few seconds later James was completely confused and did not know which door they had come through or where they should go next but Zabini walked up to one of the doors and appeared to be searching for something upon it.
He moved from door to door until he had obviously found the one he was looking for and when he had found it he drew a red cross on it with his wand, "This is the door we came through," he explained turning to look at them all. "Lily told me what to look for; if you need to get back out this is the one to use and this red mark will stay until I remove it so don't worry about remembering which door is the right one. We need to go out of the one directly opposite," he continued turning to look at a door which to the rest of them was identical, "this way." They followed him out and found themselves in another long corridor which was lined with bottle green tiles; as the door closed behind them they heard the walls of the room move again and James found himself hoping that the red cross would stay visible. It was dark in the corridor as there were no windows and James felt somewhat closed in by the tunnel like appearance that it had; how did his sister work in this place all day long? It was certainly a mystery to him. All along the tiled corridor were equally spaced and symmetrically placed doorways which had heavy black metal doors within them; they were marked with curious symbols embossed into the doors which, curiously, had no handles or keyholes. James found himself wondering what was behind each of them and how you might get inside but he forced his mind to focus on the task at hand. It was eerily quiet in the department and he knew everyone must have left through the floo they had used. He also imagined that the dark wizards probably patrolling the ministry now would have been as confused as he was by the place and hopefully left it somewhat unattended.
Eventually they came to the end of the corridor and were faced with a heavy looking wooden door which again had no handle or lock upon it; Zabini motioned for them all to stand against the wall as he pointed his wand at the door and waved it in a curious pattern while mumbling some words under his breath. "Watch what I'm doing," he said to them all, "if you need to get back in here without me this is the only way," and they all turned their heads to see the exact motion and hear the exact words he was using. The door opened by itself when he had finished the incantation and Blaise peered around it before allowing them all to steal out into the open corridor beyond. They found themselves at the entrance to the department of mysteries and James now knew they were out in the rest of the ministry, the part he was more familiar with. He knew they were on the bottom floor and that the only rooms below them were the dungeons and the old courtrooms which were barely used anymore and only accessible by stairs. It was eerily quiet all around, even to say they were so far down, and it was immediately evident that something was wrong. "We'll need to get up to the fourth floor before we can enter the auror department," Zabini explained, "I don't want to use the elevators as it will alert them to our presence; the stairs will have to do," he added checking both ends of the corridor again before running across to the stairwell entrance.
They climbed the four storeys stealthily, checking around each corner before they moved up again, but if there were people on guard they were not interested in the stairways at all. When they reached the floor they wanted Zabini peered carefully through the doorway and brought his head back swiftly as they all held their breaths. "There's one alone outside the door to the international office."
"Use this," Harry suddenly said pulling a liquefied looking piece of cloth from inside his robes; James recognised it immediately as his father's invisibility cloak which he threw at Zabini. The senior auror put it on and disappeared from view while the rest of them watched as the door to the corridor seemed to open of its own accord and then close again when he had gone through it. A few seconds later he reappeared and nodded at them all to follow him, which they did, passing quickly by the stunned body now laying at the entrance to the international department. To hide any evidence Zabini hovered the unconscious body and placed it inside the stairwell they had vacated, hoping to avoid detection for as long as possible.
Blaise stopped them all at the end of the corridor in front of what appeared to be a brick wall but he waved his wand again at the rough pockmarked stones which suddenly began to move themselves back a few at a time until they created a thin opening; beyond this was a thin passageway with stairs leading up into darkness. Again he told them all how to open the doorway which closed immediately when they were all through on the other side; then they set off up the stairs which seemed endless to everyone. They twisted around sometimes going up and sometimes leading back down; they were uneven sizes so they all found themselves occasionally tripping as their legs could not get into a systematic rhythm like they usually would on stairs. It was dark and the only light afforded to them came from the tips of their wands which each of them had ignited after passing through the opening. "This leads up to the department," Blaise began to explain as they climbed, single file, through the rough walled cavern. It looked as if the walls had been hollowed out of solid rock just like a cave made from years of being battered by the sea; it was also damp and cold which made James feel as if he might have really been inside a sea cave had he not known better. "It was made for an event such as this," Blaise went on, "a hidden way to get into the auror department without detection, providing you could get to the entrance that is. As you can imagine it has not been used for years and only seniors know about it, something I have been trying to get changed lately. Of course you'll remember it Harry from your own auror days, though I doubt you ever used it; this is the first time I have been in here since it was shown to me."
"I never even came in then," Harry explained as they continued to climb up and down, round and round, "we were shown when we first started but never had call to use it; the passwords have obviously changed now too."
"Every month as always," Zabini replied.
Finally they came to another wall which Blaise cast the same spell at to open and they found themselves standing in a small room only just big enough for the five of them; as the wall closed behind them again they felt cramped together. "We're in the auror department," their leader whispered, "and we need to stay undetected for as long as possible; it's highly likely that this department will have lots of guards but the sooner we can free the aurors to join us the better. Beerney's patronus said they were all in one of the meeting rooms but the clerical workers had been taken elsewhere. If we come across them Hermione," he continued turning to look at the only woman amongst them, "I want you to get them back to the department of mysteries and get them out; most of them are not trained to face this," she nodded her understanding and then he turned to the others. "The rest of us need to get to the aurors as soon as we can, ready?" he asked and they all nodded.
James poked his head out of the door and found they were on a familiar corridor on the lower floor of the department close to the meeting rooms they used when all aurors needed to attend. He indicated to the others that the coast was clear and then they all slid stealthily along the walls of the passage until James reached the end and peered around the corner. "There's two of them outside room D," he confirmed and his father poked his head round to see.
"Stun them," Zabini whispered and the two Potters held out their wands simultaneously pointing them in the direction of the two guards and sent out red stunning sparks which hit them in the chest; they both made a short gasping sound and started to fall.
"Muffliato," James whispered pointing his wand at them again and the sound of them hitting the floor was muffled; Zabini hovered the two bodies as he had the first one and Ron opened a nearby door so they could be put inside out of sight should anyone come to check. James ran to the door they had been guarding and opened it slowly; a few gasps from the other side told him that it was occupied and the inhabitants held their breaths as they watched the newcomers enter.
"Mr Potter," someone called and James saw that there were about thirty five women sat in various seats around the room all pale faced and looking terrified out of their wits. Their breaths seemed to exhale concurrently when they realised it was not an enemy; James shushed them before they could start to talk to him while his fellow rescuers came in and closed the door behind them.
"Annemarie," Blaise called spotting the dark haired woman sat near the front of the room, "what can you tell us?"
"They stormed into the department at ten o clock all wearing dark robes and hideous masks," she started recalling, glancing from one to the other as she did so. "They caught us all unawares and took the clerical staff hostage so that the aurors would give up their wands; they kicked in all the office doors dragging us out into the reception where they held us at wandpoint until the aurors conceded. But...I don't know what they did with them; once they had taken all the wands we were told to come into here and we've been here ever since, too terrified to even move. The room has been guarded constantly until...until you came in," she finished looking at him with a terrified expression; James recognised the look on her face, he had seen it on her once before and then it had led to the two of them sleeping together.
"Is everyone here accounted for?" Zabini asked with little sympathy to his voice; he knew they were scared but had a job to do and could only be matter of fact about it.
"N...no," Annemarie stuttered swallowing over a lump in her throat as she looked over at James, "Holly Weston is missing."
