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Chapter Thirty Six

Anton saw more than a few mouths drop open when Madam Pomfrey stepped out of the fireplace moments after he had climbed from it, behind her followed Rhoan whose eyes threatened to fall out as they were so wide. He started shocked at the faces he recognised as they surveyed him with polite curiosity, Anton was grateful that the whole Order hadn't attempted to gather in Dumbledore's office, as it was only those that had been patrolling Hogwarts such as the Aurors, Kingsley, Mad-Eye and Tonks and those that had been at Headquarters such as Lupin and Sirius who was holding his sleeping great godson in a green blanket that matched the boys hair.

'Poppy!' McGonagall exclaimed joyfully 'you're awake.'

'Indeed it is good to see you back where you belong,' Dumbledore added seriously.

'Thank you,' Madam Pomfrey smiled graciously 'you have no idea how annoying it is to be aware of everything and not be able to do a single thing, I'm glad that Mr Lukyen and his brother managed to decipher the counter-curse.'

Everyone's eyes swung to look at the adoptive brothers, Anton shrugged as if it was nothing.

'It was the least we could do.'

'Especially considering she attacked you to get to me,' Rhoan provided helpfully 'she always did have a soft spot for me, helping me with homework, helping me in potions, murdering me…'

Dumbledore cleared his throat and Rhoan fell silent as the headmaster opened his mouth to speak.

'Now we are all together and relatively safe we must plan what we are going to do.'

'Albus how did this happen again?' Snape asked 'I thought we made sure no dark wizards or witches would ever be able to infiltrate Hogwarts again.'

'Ofelia is a brilliant witch,' Anton answered 'brilliant and dangerous.'

He didn't need to tell the head that Ofelia had most probably studied the magic that was infused into the wards, the ancient wizard had most likely already worked it out.

'Minerva we have a serious weakness with our safety precautions,' once again the powerful wizards face was alive with fury 'how she managed it needs to be discovered.'

--

Ministry officials began appearing less than ten minutes later, thankfully Madam Bones was leading them and she had personally approved all of them, this meant that she judged their characters to be of a good standard, it was also noted that she was almost never wrong.

'Professor Dumbledore,' she greeted casting a speculative glance at the Minister who was heaped on the floor in a pathetic ball.

'Madam Bones,' Dumbledore returned his eyes on full twinkle 'it is a pity that we are meeting under such unpleasant circumstances.'

'Indeed,' she agreed 'if what you are saying is true then the very foundations of the ministry are about to be rattled.'

'I wish it wasn't,' Dumbledore said gravely 'but there is a fair amount of evidence to prove it to be true.'

'We will discover the truth behind the situation,' the witch continued 'though we will have to speak with everyone involved.'

'There will be no resistance from anyone working in the school,' the headmaster assured her.

--

They were supposed to be talking with Madam Bones but instead the Lukyen's directed a few members of the Order to where they had been, this time they had brought brooms and were flying quickly through the air passing above the frozen ground that they had trekked laboriously over just hours earlier.

In the blackness of the night it was almost impossible to see anything, however Rhoan and Anton had the use of their adjusted eyes, Remus was equipped with his werewolf sight and the others knew enough charms to be able to see reasonably clearly through the darkness.

'Down below,' came the shout from Lupin.

A moment later Anton's spotted the same thing, a building barely visible in the now thickly swirling snow, he dropped his broom down and his movements were mimicked by the rest of their small unit. Beside him Rhoan directed the broom leant to him by Tonks, however it appeared to have some of the metamorphs residual clumsiness attached to it and it was taking all the wind elementals concentration to keeping it in line.

They landed in silence with Dumbledore taking his usual lead stance, Anton dropped behind but the headmaster signalled him and Rhoan forward.

'You two lead, I'm sure you're much more able to navigate this building.'

The two of them stepped forward and up to the metal door, pulling out their wands Anton went first.

They had left the door partially open and the snow had blown in coating the grey concrete floor, they stepped carefully keeping their senses on edge.

The apparition point was as silent and as broken as it had been earlier, as they went further they came across the bound Ministry workers, their eyes flickered open warily in the dim light as the group passed by them. Kingsley and Lupin made sure they were each secured before moving onto the next one.

They passed the interrogation rooms sitting in darkness an what looked like a room for the corrupt aurors to catch some sleep, Anton scowled at it, he longed to kill all of the Ministry officials that had sold their morals for money and materialistic gain, but he was comforted in the knowledge that some of them would never do harm again, but the deaths of people like Lear were only small in comparison to the whole picture.

They reached the offices and the free Order members immediately began packing up the entire contents in order to transfer it back. Mad-Eye was overseeing the portkeys being set up to take the bound wizards and witches to the Ministry where Aurors they knew they could trust were waiting.

--

She stamped her foot angrily on the rough floor, this wasn't supposed to have happened, she was meant to have had a lot longer to do damage, but what had she gotten, not even two damn weeks without Anton watching her every move. She stamped her foot again and let out a small howl of fury.

That fool Fudge was as incompetent as ever and the Aurors he had persuaded to help him were useless, they had not been able to keep two unarmed, magically blocked men in a locked room, and not even for as long as she had hoped. She had expected to have at least four weeks before her former friends worked out how to escape or the Order managed to free them, but no, they had gotten away. The short hasty message she had received from the female auror had hardly done anything to improve her temperament.

She knew her time was limited it would only take her so long for Anton and Rhoan to deliver a hard blow to her, they had kept her on her toes throughout the war countering her every move and making it very difficult for her to succeed, even Rhoan had come into himself as he had gotten older, he had gained confidence in himself and his abilities and this made him as dangerous as Anton who had ridden himself of his short temper through sheer determination, it had left in its place an icy cold, a direct opposition to his fiery nature that almost matched her element.

Her façade of Umbridge had been going so well, she had studied the vile woman almost incessantly making sure she had every mannerism perfectly mirrored, it had been enough to fool fudge but it had taken much harder work to pass in Hogwarts where she was watched almost constantly by teachers and pupils alike.

She had been lucky to have possession of the knowledge of the school wards because without it she would not have gotten close to the main building. Dumbledore would make the wards impenetrable to even her, she needed a new plan because there was only so long she could stay ahead of Anton.

'Ofelia!' the hiss echoed through the clearing she was standing in.

she scowled, she hated the aberration that summoned her, she turned towards the dark lord as he stood surrounded by his loyal and weak followers, she was better than him, she knew far more things, there were reasons she hadn't told him about his horcruxes being under threat, she wanted him dead, she always had, she knew many had thought she had killed her parents but they were wrong, Voldemort's reach was long and cruel and he stopped at nothing in order to achieve his aims, she dreamt of his death, dreamed of his blood flowing, the look in his eyes as the life ebbed away.

She had seen death and there was one death she coveted above all others, his.

Her positioning was perfect, she was closest to him, and her blow would be fatal.

--

'So you entered the Hospital Wing to find Madam Pomfrey unconscious on the floor with Madam Umbridge attacking your brother?'

'That's right,' Anton confirmed 'then supposed Ministry officials arrived, they knocked Rhoan and I out and took us to that compound where they interrogated us.'

Madam Bones nodded as if this verified what she already knew, 'And the Minister?'

'He was leading them,' Anton said calmly 'he was there when we were questioned.'

'Was violence ever used against you?' she inquired.

'Sometimes,' Anton replied 'they were asking questions that we didn't have answers to, and they didn't like it.'

--

Anton and Rhoan were alone in the one of the sitting rooms in Sirius's house, his godfather had recently redecorated the small area in warm creams and brown with big leather sofa's and thick rugs.

Rhoan was slumped sideways on one of the settees his hair even more silvery due to its recent wash. A knock came at the door and it opened.

'Would you boys like something to eat?'

Rhoan sat up so suddenly he fell off of the couch 'mum,' he breathed his eyes wide.

'Sorry dear?' Mrs Weasley said looking confused.

'You remind Rhoan of our mother,' Anton jumped in hastily 'it's the red hair, but our Mum is dead, very dead, not alive at ALL!' he finished with more force than was necessary and she gave him an odd look.

'Thank you Anton for clearing that up,' she said after a few seconds pause, she turned to Rhoan who had picked himself off the floor, his cheeks were flaming red, but what was worse was the utter look of wistfulness on his face.

Molly appeared to recognise this as her maternal instincts kicked in at full power and she began fussing over him in her usual way.

'Come on Rhoan I'm sure you're starving, I mean you haven't had anything real to eat since you got here,'

Rhoan definitely perked up at this and he smiled at his mother 'thank you so much...Mu…Mrs Weasley.

'Please call me Molly,' she beamed at him 'now if you decide your hair is a bit long I can help you out, I've cut plenty of hair with seven children.'

'Thank you M...Molly,' Rhoan said still looking vaguely stunned.

'Not at all,' she smiled 'now you two come to the kitchen before all of the food runs out.'

--

Rhoan spent much of dinner blinking away shock as he was introduced to an array of people he never thought he would ever see again, he had borrowed a few items of clothing from Sirius and Anton to get him through the night and day and he was intending to restock in Diagon Alley the next day, after Anton had sent an owl informing the goblins to put the bank account under both of their names.

After the food was finished and cleared away Anton and Rhoan retreated back to the sitting room, however not before Mrs Weasley had gotten her scissors on his hair, it was now falling just below his ears and dusting lightly on his forehead, as Anton watched him Rhoan kept running his hand through it as if he couldn't quite believe he'd lost over a foot and a half in length and scraggy split ends. Mrs Weasley had taken full advantage of her unknown son's perplexed state and had sheared it off before Rhoan had the chance to utter any preferences, though Anton had to agree it suited him a lot more.

'Madam Bones offered me a job,' Rhoan said suddenly.

'What!' Anton exclaimed surprised 'but we're under suspicion of all kinds of things.'

'She told me that it was a matter of hours before wizengamot came back with the decision Fudge and supposed Umbridge were in the wrong, they'll be sacked and possibly face charges themselves.'

Anton had hoped for that very outcome and had been extremely insistent that Umbridge take the blame for everything Ofelia had done, it was the job offer for Rhoan that had stunned him, there was a great deal of suspicion surrounding both of them.

'What kind of job?'

'We got into a long discussion about legislation and other things and anyway, the job is for the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.'

'What!' Anton cried out again 'Madam Bones just offered you a job in one of the most important departments, with no references, no proof of who you are, no supposed job experience…'

'I still have my papers,' Rhoan said blushing slightly 'I kept them with me, all I had to do was change the dates and a few locations, I spoke to Dumbledore and he has some friends in the Department of International Magical Cooperation that have verified who I are.'

'In a day?' Anton said sceptically 'you and Dumbledore achieved all of this in a day?'

Rhoan shrugged 'we had some help here and there and we had to move quickly, it was easy though as you've already created an identity for yourself all I had to do was latch onto yours.'

'You've been free twenty four hours and already you have a job in the department you always wanted a job in,' Anton said amazed 'I don't know what to say.'

Rhoan grinned and shrugged 'what can I say, I'm brilliant.'

--

Anton had been unsurprisingly been given the following week off from Hogwarts, after Madam Pomfrey had checked them both over, she had informed that Anton's body was completely free of the poison and that Rhoan's health left something to be desired, the end meant that Anton go to finally say goodbye to the potion and Rhoan got to have lots of nutritional ones instead, much to his disgruntlement.

Consequently the next day saw him and Rhoan traversing their way through Diagon Alley. Anton had no intention of helping Rhoan shop for the things he needed both for everyday living and for the uniform required for his new job. Instead he was signing Rhoan onto the bank account and then heading into the centre of Knockturn Alley.

They split up less than half an hour later with Rhoan heading to Madam Malkins and Anton yanking his black cloak hood up and heading into the gloom.

He navigated easily around the winding passages that branched away from the original alleyway. This time he was ignored by the witches and wizards passing by him, his nondescript cloak obscuring him completely. He came to a stop eventually by an old rusty door that was not obvious among the other entries, raising one hand he rapped abruptly on the hard surface and waited for the small hatch imbedded in the door to slide across.

With a grating shunt it was drawn across and a shadowed face peered out, the dark eyes fell on Anton, the person stared for a couple of seconds before asking.

'Yes?'

'I need to speak with Feehan.'

The person regarded him again before snorting and slamming the hatch closed. Unperturbed Anton raised his hand and knocked once again. The metal was slid back and the person gazed out again.

'Yes?'

Silently Anton held his hand out to the opening dangling a small money bag from his index finger, a few more seconds passed before a hand reached out and snatched the bag away from Anton, the hatch was closed again and Anton counted the seconds slowly. Then as he expected the door opened with groan. Anton nodded his head to the shadowed figure as he passed through and into the dim hallway.

'She's in the bottom room,' the shadow informed him 'just keep walking and take the first left.'

'I know the way,' Anton answered as he swept into further darkness.

He stood quietly in the small doorway waiting for the person within to speak first, the room was small and all four walls were filled with grimy glass globes. The only furniture in the room were two chairs and a low table covered in more glass spheres. One chair was a spindly dining chair with a worn red cushion as the seat. The other was an armchair with high sides and a tall back, it was faded blue and seated on it was a tiny woman.

Her hair was grey piled neatly on her head her eyes were pearly white, a sharp contrast to her dark wrinkled skin, she was dressed in a dark purple robe and with her hands she knitted quickly feeling with her fingers for any imperfections. She knew he was there though, her blindness was real but it was no hindrance.

She was exactly as she appeared in the future, nothing about her appearance or surroundings would change.

'Come and take a seat,' she instructed 'I don't believe I should know you yet.'

Anton smiled slightly, she had always known everything regardless of the content.

'I though our introduction needed to be brought forward Madam,' he replied 'I need you help

'Indeed you do,' she agreed her fingers moving quickly as she weaved the wool 'indeed you do.'

--

Anton pulled his cloak off as he dropped into a seat opposite his brother, Rhoan's new processions were shrunken away from sight leaving the space around them clear. Every so often a glance would flicker there way, it wasn't often people saw the two responsible for the dismissal of their Minister.

'How did it go?' Rhoan asked.

'I got what we need,' Anton said signalling for a plate of food 'how was your shopping trip?'

Rhoan scowled 'fine, did she know you?'

Anton smiled 'I doubt anyone can fool the soothsayer.'

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