So, the first part of chapter 82 is here ^^
By the way, rereading OotP made me realise that the layout of the Department of Mysteries makes little sense, because Ron, Ginny and Luna end up from the Hall of Prophecies into a room with planets and then the room with brains again without going through the black rotating door section at the very start while fleeing from Death Eaters. Not sure what the point of the rotating doors is if the rooms themselves are also connected but oh well. I used a map created by Christopher Culley, found on the hp-lexicon. It shows some more passages to account for the scene above. Just in case you want to have a reference to look at while reading.
Enjoy!
Chapter 82.1 - Head to head:
As the Muggle telephone box lowered itself into the bowels of the Ministry of Magic, the same way it had last time Harry had used it when intending to visit the Auror's office – the one place they would avoid at all costs now, strange how the situation had changed so drastically over the years – Draco wouldn't stop complaining.
''We should have used the employee entrance!'' he furiously muttered, face pale. ''This is insanity.''
''Dad told me about that, I'm not going to flush myself down a toilet,'' Ron retorted with a huff.
''It's only an illusion, weasel! Fine, but at least the Floo-''
The elevator opened and the four of them looked around warily. No-one awaited them, the area was dark and empty, only the rush of water coming from the golden fountain with its tall statues.
''Floo would have been unwise too,'' Hermione explained in a whisper as they carefully crossed the dim Atrium, the only light coming from the golden symbols that made their way across the ceiling. ''Each fireplace connected to the Ministry is registered, whomever we'd have asked to use their Floo would have a dozen questions about why four students who are supposed to be at Hogwarts have to visit the Ministry on a Sunday. If in the end, it becomes known what we've done, they'd be accomplices to a crime. Who'd risk that? It's better this way.'' Harry also wondered if Floo would have even worked. When he'd visited this place during the day, the rows of fireplaces had been burning brightly. Now, they were cold and empty.
''Better than telling that damned spell our real names while we're on a break-in.'' Draco exasperatedly stated.
''We didn't,'' Harry muttered absentmindedly.
''Yeah, because I stopped you and talked over you! Not because of your stellar brains, Scarhead!'' A little surly about Draco being right, Harry briefly touching the square visitor badge that spelled 'Harrles Duketer' since Draco and he had at the same time told it 'Harry Potter' and 'Charles Duke'. ''This isn't one of those damned Muggle spy movies where you can announce you're on a 'secret mission' and everyone will nod along.''
''Because you've seen so many Muggle movies, I'm sure. This way,'' he gestured, recalling where Voldemort had led him on the way down to the courtrooms. ''We better take the stairs just in case. Wouldn't want to get stuck in a magical elevator or have nowhere to hide if there are employees around who'll want to use it.'' Especially not if the only people who might drop by were Aurors. He also recalled how loud the bloody thing had clanked last time, when it had just been him and Voldemort in there.
''Any employees could also use the stairs,'' Hermione nervously said, which Harry released a short laugh at.
''Mione, witches and wizards who are used to using magic for every little comfort in their lives are not going to use stairs when there's a perfectly good elevator around. If we'd have one of those at Hogwarts, you can bet the grand staircase would become pretty décor.'' On guard, they descended deeper, though as Sirius had told him to expect, they met no resistance at all. It didn't take long before the four of them stood in front of the same door Harry had approached when looking through Nagini's eyes, the same one he'd been tempted to open in a dream before Voldemort had stopped him. He knew some of what lay beyond too. The difficult part would be getting in.
In a last attempt to deter his friends from joining him in this mad attempt – and to make it easier to go in unseen as the invisibility cloak was large enough for one of them, yet was utterly useless when shared between four – he spoke: ''How about you stay guard here. I'll be just a moment…''
Ron only rolled his eyes. ''As if that's going to work on us, Harry. Oh, sorry. Harrles,'' the redhead smirked, glancing at the badge. Not that he was one to speak with the mouthful 'Asinus Mustela' on his chest. Harry wondered if it was really a typical wizarding name or if the Slytherin had allowed himself a bit of creative fun, considering that Hermione had thrown a mild glare at Draco after the blond had blurted it out.
''I hate to agree with Weasley here, but we can't really afford to split up.'' That decision likely had less to do with strategy and more with how scared Draco was, Harry suspected.
Thinking it over briefly, Harry pulled himself together. He still led this mission and would be damned if they'd break down into arguments every five minutes. Time to make a real decision. ''Alright, we'll all go in. But,'' he spoke, looking all of them in the eyes. ''If I say you run, then you run. If I tell you not to linger, you don't. Clear?''
Ron and Hermione appeared a bit taken aback at that, whereas Draco gave a serious nod. ''Clear,'' he echoed, receiving two curious glances. Maybe taking Draco hadn't been such a bad idea after all. The Slytherin was the only person in the entire D. A. who knew exactly just how quickly the Dark Lord would rip him apart piece by piece if he endangered Harry by disobeying orders. Casting the repulsive thought aside of how unconcerned Harry felt in that moment about his partner's violent streak, he focused all attention on the black door. It was just as taunting as it had been in his dream, the doorknob gleaming even in the dark – the torches on the walls unlit at this hour. He already had drawn Sirius' knife in case it was locked, when the door silently swung open as Harry stepped closer. Taken briefly aback and exchanging nervous glances with his friends, he stepped over the threshold, not sure what else to do even if this were a trap against burglars.
It was brighter inside, blue flames set in candelabras on the walls between more black doors that surrounded them in a circular room, the icy light from the candles reflecting on a marble floor that was even darker.
''So… what's the plan, then?'' Ron asked hesitantly. ''Do you know which one leads to the time-turners?''
Unwilling to admit he had absolutely no clue, Harry proclaimed, more confidently than he felt: ''We'll have to handle this strategically, checking beyond each door briefly for clues and regroup here if we figure out we're in the wrong place. From what I've picked up, all rooms in this Department are rather… erhm, thematic, so it should not be hard to discover in which one the concept of time is being studied.''
Before they could pick a door to try however, the one behind them fell shut and the walls began to spin with a low rumble, blue flames becoming streaks in the air that burned on his retinas long after everything returned to normal. ''I suppose that's to deter us from going back…'' he murmured.
Since each door looked pretty much the same, he went for the one directly ahead, pushing it open. A wide, open space unfolded in front of them, holding a few desks and a large tank filled to the brim with deep green water and… slimy things. As Harry approached, he realised with a hint of disgust what exactly he was looking at. He'd studied enough sketches of all parts of the human body in Healing textbooks to recognise brains when seeing them, even when these were more akin pearly jellyfish that lazily drifted about in the water. ''Definitely not the right room,'' he decided, casting a few glimpses at the books on the nearby desks. All of them appeared to be related to biology.
''Lumos,'' Draco spoke loudly, the tip of his wand lighting up as he watched the drifting brains with interest.
''What are you doing?'' Ron asked in a high-pitched tone. ''We're not in school, idiot! You can't use magic here!''
Harry, who'd drawn his wand to defend himself when necessary, realised that he'd completely and utterly forgotten about the Trace when planning this break-in. Worry flared up for a second, before:
''You really call yourself a Pure-blood?'' Draco sneered, one blond eyebrow raised in a perfect imitation of his mother. ''This is the Ministry of Magic. A place where minors also occasionally have business casting magic. Just like in Hogwarts, the Trace isn't activated in here. Merlin, how can you not know that? And how did you think we were going to destroy hundreds of time-turners without magic? By smashing them on your forehead one by one? Bet you'd love that, wouldn't you? Might leave a scar that would make you just as famous as-''
''Draco,'' Harry hissed, furiously. He was this close to slipping into Parseltongue. Realising he'd gone too far, the Slytherin swallowed down any further nasty comments and pretended to ignore the three of them, going back to prodding his glowing wand at the tank.
Ron threw one pissed look at the blond, then took a few deep breaths. Only the red tinge at his ears betrayed his anger. Nonetheless, he too now drew his wand, followed suit by Hermione, who'd watched the entire exchange with sharp eyes, ready to step in when necessary.
''It continues here too,'' Ron curtly pointed out, nodding to the left. Harry groaned when realising his friend spoke the truth, not just one but several doors taunting them. How large was this department?
''Okay, we'll have a brief look, just to see if these adjacent rooms study similar fields or not.'' That was literally the only clue he had…
Inhaling sharply, he turned the handle of one of the doors. When heading inside, Harry desperately wished it would have remained shut. Another glass tank in the centre drew his attention, this one without fluid. Instead, it held a still-beating heart that had been speared on multiple silver rods. As his eyes unwillingly roved over the rest of the room, he noticed that the walls, which he'd previously thought to have been painted with a pattern of red lines, were in actuality a large display case for the remaining vascular network, veins and arteries stretched out thin across the surface. Backing away, he shut the door again before anyone else could take a peek. ''Not the right place, absolutely not the right place,'' he hurried to say. ''Come on.''
Once back in the circular, black entry hall, he trying to think of a spell, any spell, that would be handy in this kind of situation, when realising they had no way of knowing where they'd already been if the doors played roulette on them every single time.
The cleverest witch of their age naturally beat him to it. ''Flagrate!'' she spoke, marking the door he most definitely wouldn't wish to step through again with a large X. Not a moment too soon, as with a rumble, their surroundings began to move.
''Brilliant,'' he sighed in relief, glad they had a plan to not get lost. Not so easily giving up hope and calmed by the thought that they'd left early enough to not be in such a desperate hurry that every second counted, Harry pushed open the next door once the spinning had stopped. He didn't get far, hovering in the doorway as he stared at what was at once familiar and disturbingly… different.
''Hey, Scarhead, can you let us through as well?'' he heard Draco growl behind him.
''I…'' he started, faltering. There was suddenly very little breath left in his lungs. This wasn't what they'd come for, not at all. Harry hadn't even thought much about the obvious fact that the room of Death would be here too. Had it been a replica of what he'd seen in Voldemort's dream, he might not have been so tempted to enter either. However… however.
The tattered curtain fluttered nervously in non-existent wind in the depths of the pit as it had before, yet the ancient, cracked archway itself did not hold empty air this time. It shimmered with silver, as if a dozen invisibility cloaks covered the entrance (the entrance to what? he briefly wondered). Unable to resist the pull, wide eyes remained fixated on the archway, becoming aware of the whispers. An old voice droned on about the worth of one is merely a reflection of their perception in the eyes of others. A child interrupted with a way to find is to search and two others still intermingled with love in this world and the next and the one after that. Voldemort had said Harry would be able to hear the dead, but hadn't mentioned how loud they'd be, or how little sense they made. Maybe he didn't know, the Dark Lord had admitted to never being able to hear anything personally while studying this room. Going ever closer, the Gryffindor tilted his head to listen more intently.
''Harry!'' Hermione called out, cutting through the whispers. ''I don't think we're right here!''
He ignored her, studying the rippling sheen of silver. As similar as it looked, this wasn't made of the pieces of foggy remains he was familiar with, Harry realised. Almost reflexively, the necromancer held tighter onto the invisibility cloak in his hands as he stared into the Shroud with wide eyes. His heartbeat slowed down to the same pulse that could be felt thrumming all around. All of a sudden, an awareness dawned that something was staring back from the other side. No shape nor silhouette could be seen, yet the feeling didn't pass that he was being watched intently. Unpleasantly scrutinised. He fought the impulse to walk around the pointed archway, knowing it would be futile. The back would show no more than the front.
''Harry?''
Hermione's expression morphed into shock as he whirled around at the touch of her hand on his shoulder. For a brief second, she studied his face. ''Your… your eyes,'' she stammered.
''What?'' he asked, feeling slightly dazed and irritated over being interrupted.
In a hushed tone, she breathed: ''They're… purple,''
''Ah,'' he replied hazily, at the moment uncertain what else to say in answer to her observation, itching to turn back around to stare deeper into the Shroud, beyond which another world was sure to unfold. Beyond which something or someone was waiting.
Those who were ranting to no-one in particular were quieter now, overshadowed by stronger voices that urged Harry to step closer.
Be one with the cosmos, one promised.
All shall fade, another tempted
Fingers dug deeper into the silky fabric of the Cloak, Harry's anchor to this plane. ''No,'' he exclaimed aloud, making his friend jump. The others were still standing on the top tier of the stairs, looking indecisive about joining them. ''You're right, Hermione, we should move on,'' he ground out, before he'd get sucked right back into whatever had come over him. Resisting the urge to look over his shoulder just one last time, Harry jumped off the raised dais and practically jogged up the steps, not stopping until back into the safety of the spinning room, where darkness could hide the way shivers thundered through him, the candles flickering enough to camouflage his feelings. This wasn't the moment to start over-analysing that encounter, he knew. They were on a mission, for which a cool head was needed. It was difficult not to.
''Can you cast the Flagrate in different shapes on the doors?'' he asked as Hermione raised her wand. She didn't answer, but the door they'd just exited got an oval on it instead of a cross, right in time as the walls started shifting.
Another fruitless attempt later with a door that wouldn't budge and even melted the blade of Sirius' knife without opening – which made Harry feel incredibly guilty even though it wasn't technically his fault – they stumbled into yet another peculiar place.
Sparkling lights danced across every surface, hundreds upon hundreds of glass surfaces reflecting the light cast from a brilliant crystal bell jar in the back of the room. As his eyes adjusted to the dancing glares, he became aware of the noise: a synchronised ticking that echoed back and forth from more clocks than he'd ever seen in his life. It sounded like a small army on its way to battle, never stopping, ringing in his head. This had to be what they'd come for. Looking left, right and up, he tried to spot time-turners, but all devices that hung and stood in the narrow corridor between towering bookshelves were variants of mechanical clocks in every shape and material one could think of. They'd need to go deeper, search for a way to continue…
As Harry walked down the path, he cast an awed glance at the bell jar, in the centre of which a hummingbird was stuck in the cycle of life amidst a whirl of golden specks. Tiny feathers fluttered in the current for the briefest moment before it fell back down again to be enclosed in its glittering egg. The bird reminded him of a tiny, jewel-like Phoenix. What would happen if the jar were to be removed? Would it be stuck, or would the spell trapped inside affect more than just this little creature?
''We could go through here?'' Ron suggested, nodding to the only door in sight, beyond the desk upon which the tall jar stood.
''No other choice, I suppose,'' Harry agreed.
''Wait!'' Hermione urged them. ''Here!'' Blinking against the annoyingly dazzling lights that were starting to give him a headache, he turned to see what she'd found. Wedged in between what he'd thought to be only bookcases, was a glass cabinet with familiar shapes inside of it. Time-turners. He'd completely walked past them in his wonderment.
''That can't be all of them, can it be?'' he asked with uncertainty as he approached. ''Are there more of these?'' He looked around wildly, but everywhere else, all he saw was clocks and books.
''I don't know,'' the girl replied, biting her lip. ''They are rather small, of course. There must be dozens in here. Or a hundred, if those drawers hold even more''
''We can't miss even a single one,'' he decided, while already trying to figure out how to get the cabinet open. It didn't seem like the Unspeakables were very concerned about people finding their way in here though, for as with the very first door, the cabinet opened at the lightest touch.
''So we simply… smash them, I suppose?'' he asked, looking to his friend for ideas. The others joined too now, staring at the cabinet.
''Be careful not to spin any,'' Hermione warned. ''But yes, the magic in these devices shouldn't be able to activate if we break them. Hopefully. Perhaps it's safest to do so from a little distance… To ensure we're not touching them and ending up in a different time. I also don't know the consequences of breathing in magical sand that manipulates time itself.''
''Now is the last chance to nick any for personal use,'' Draco commented, eyes gleaming with a tad too much greed for Harry's liking.
''We're not bringing any more of these damned things to Hogwarts, we talked about that,'' he reprimanded his brother, who huffed in mild disappointment. ''Okay, let's take cover somewhere and fire a Bombarda at it, that ought to do it, right?'' he inquired. It was the most destructive spell he knew that covered enough of an area to blow the entire thing to smithereens.
''I'll do it,'' Hermione offered once they were huddled together behind the desk with the hummingbird dome. ''No offence Harry, but I mastered the exploding charm two years ago and I know it's more potent than yours. We have to ensure nothing remains.''
He wished to argue that he'd improved – which he had – but in that moment, their time was up. Hands flew up to cover their ears as a piercing alarm sounded. Hermione uttered a pained sound, wand slipping from her fingers and rolling uselessly to the floor. ''Did we trigger something?' Draco shouted in panic. ''I didn't touch anything, swear! Weasel, was it you?''
Ron didn't answer, too busy pointing his wand. ''Bombarda!'' he yelled. The resulting explosion was a sight to behold, every single time-turner shattering simultaneously, while splinters of glass and wood flew everywhere. In that last second, Harry had the sense to pull up a shield charm to protect them from the rain of sharp pointy objects. Before he knew what was going on, Ron had pulled Hermione to her feet, who picked up her wand with a red face. Then, they were running… first towards the entry, until they heard angry shouting from beyond it.
''The other way!'' Harry bellowed, heart pounding. How had they been discovered? Had they really alerted the Ministry when using the visitor's entrance? Or when waltzing into the Department of Mysteries? The deafening, blaring siren was relentless and made it difficult to think, but he scrambled for the only door in sight and pulled it open, not even checking what it contained before ushering his friends inside. Just in the nick of time: as he slipped through and yanked it shut, he saw through the closing crack that on the opposite side of the narrow corridor, the other door was pushed open. At once, the piercing noise was muffled significantly. ''Locking charms, locking charms…'' he muttered frantically, drawing a blank. Useful charms hadn't exactly been in Barty's repertoire for teaching. The only one he recalled from Flitwick's class was Colloportus, but he doubted Ministry guards or Aurors would be deterred by a door that could be opened again with a simple Alohomora. All that spell really did was keep out small children and Muggles.
In the end, he went for a more drastic measure, using one of the earth elemental spells they'd trained during the D. A. sessions to make the tiles rise up and form a blockade. Hopefully a solid slab of stone would hold a few blows.
''Whoa, what is this place?'' Draco breathed, holding up his wand high to illuminate the interior. Now Harry wasn't so concerned with their pursuers anymore, he also turned to see where they'd ended up. Not that it helped much in figuring out what this place was for. Tall shelves filled with dusty orbs reached up to the impossibly high ceiling. It was like standing in a cathedral that had been repurposed into a warehouse for the strangest objects. Approaching the nearest shelf, Harry saw that below each sphere was a small plaque with letters, dates and names on it.
''I don't know,'' he truthfully admitted, frowning as he tried to recall what he knew of the Department of Mysteries. Had Voldemort mentioned anything about crystal balls or the like?
Crystal balls… Divination… he blinked as it dawned on him what these might be. ''Oh,'' he whispered, looking up in wonder at what must be thousands of prophecies, all neatly lined up and labelled. And somewhere among these, was the one that had sent his life into the whirlwind that it was today.
They couldn't search for it, he knew. It was almost a relief to see how insurmountable of a task it was, a needle-in-a-haystack type of situation. All prophecies looked exactly the same: spun-glass, cloudy orbs the size of a fist. In the near-darkness, with only a couple of candles illuminating the way, it would take hours to comb through the Hall to find Harry's. Why was it such a relief, he pondered. In Sirius' opinion, knowing was it said could possibly be used to change fate… wasn't defying fate a worthy goal? All of his life, information had been kept from Harry that he should really have had access to. It was the main reason why he was so angry at Dumbledore all the time. So why didn't the thought of being this close to knowing what the future could hold yet being unable to grasp it, infuriate him in the slightest? He was reminded of a conversation he'd had about the Prophecy with Voldemort, months back, and of the time that he'd involuntarily felt the man's fears about coming to know the wording of it, almost a year ago.
A pounding on the door didn't let him finish his soul-searching. ''We need to keep moving, now,'' he urged the others, who'd been looking just as star-struck as he'd felt. ''We don't know how long that'll stop them from advancing.'' He crossed all ten fingers that they hadn't walked into a dead end. With increasing speed, they hurried along the dark aisles, wondering what they'd gotten into.
''At least we did what we came to do,'' Harry attempted to reassure the others
Ron silently nodded, though his skin was a touch green. Harry understood, feeling a bit sick himself at the thought that this might be it. They could be caught, get expelled, shipped off to Azkaban, stripped off their magic… Would the Dark Lord break into Azkaban for him, if he hadn't done so even for his most loyal followers?
Banning fear from his heart, he pushed on, now and then throwing a careful look behind him, where the stone was cracking slightly now as the hammering continued. ''Let's switch aisles,'' he suggested, ''So we're not in their direct line of sight.''
They veered right, Ron in front and Harry at the end of their short queue. It turned out to be a sensible decision, as with a loud crash, the stone crumbled, door flying open. Holding their breaths, they upped their pace as much as possible, the banging of their footsteps on the stone floor thankfully overshadowed by the alarm, which was louder again now. Far behind them, Harry heard different sounds too. Incoherent shouting and the splintering of glass…
''The rubble must have hit some of these shelves,'' Hermione panted when they reached a wall and took a short breather. ''Listen-''
Indeed, there was no end to the rush of shattering orbs at the front rows. ''We can't worry about that now,'' Harry said, looking left and right in desperation. ''There! Is that another door?''
''Potter and his friends must be here!'' he suddenly heard someone, voice booming even over all the other noise. ''Spread out, find them! And try to contain the damage, for Merlin's sake! These things are irreplaceable!''
Harry's shock was reflected in the eyes of his friends. ''They know it's us,'' Draco moaned. ''Oh no. This will be the end of my career before it ever started. Why did I volunteer for this insanity?''
''Shh!'' Ron shushed, but it was too late. Thundering footsteps suddenly headed their way.
''I heard something! They're still in here! Don't let them-''
Not wasting another moment, Harry threw caution to the wind and darted forwards to where he'd thought to see a vague shape in the wall. A red streak of light from a Stunner behind them illuminated the wall for a second to show that it was indeed another door. He ripped it open and checked briefly to see whether any of them had been hit. Thankfully, the Stunner had missed. ''Come on, come on!'' he shouted, waiting till all three of his friends had dashed through. Their attacker narrowly skidded to a halt in order to avoid heavy impact with the wall. His furious expression met Harry's eyes for a moment, before the teen slammed the door shut and gave it much the same treatment as before, trying to solidify the stone more thoroughly this time.
''This is not a permanent solution,'' he warned the others. ''Oh great, another room,'' he groaned, looking around with desperation. It was by far the most beautiful one so far, illuminated miniatures (as far as balls the size of Quidditch rings could be considered miniatures) of planets floating freely in a space that appeared to have no end, as the surfaces on all sides were bespeckled with what appeared to be millions of tiny stars against a pitch-black canvas. He ducked out of the way of Saturn's ring as it drifted a bit too close, noticing it consisted of dust and glistening crystals.
''We need a plan… but first of all, we need to know who exactly is after us,'' Ron spoke up, pacing frantically.
''Aurors,'' Harry answered. ''I recognised the guy's face. He was in the Auror office with Tonks and Kingsley when I dropped off Pettigrew, I'm sure of it. Sat quietly behind a desk in a corner while I chatted with Tonks, but he doesn't look quite as tame now.''
''They knew who we were,'' Hermione grimly reminded them. ''Do you think- do you think that perhaps the others failed in taking away Umbridge's time-turner?''
''Why wait then until after we succeeded in what we came to do?'' Harry frowned. ''Why not catch us at the entrance? We can't yet write off that we simply tripped some silent alarm and that Umbridge has nothing to do with this.''
Hermione didn't look so certain. ''If it was her, and we have to consider the possibility, maybe she didn't know when exactly we landed? Or discovered it so late that she couldn't go further back in time? Besides, are we sure we got all of them?''
''True, maybe they were a couple more time-turners in that office,'' Draco mentioned thoughtfully.
''Office? What office?''
The blond shrugged. ''About half-way in that room of time there was a small door. It looked pretty similar to the standard doors in other department used for the offices.''
''And you mention that now?'' Harry exclaimed in frustration.
''I thought I wasn't the only one with eyes, Potter! Aren't you always the one who is so damned proud of your Seeker abilities? How can you miss a whole door?''
''We need to go back to make sure,'' he moaned. ''And we don't even know how. The way we just came from is not an option anymore, so we have to find that revolving room again, but as we only made a mark after leaving each area, here is none on the time room yet. We literally can only exclude four out of twelve doors then if we find it from this side. Okay... okay, let's stay calm.'' A heavy thudding from the direction of the Hall of Prophecies made all of them jump. ''Looks like they're desperately trying to get through there… Maybe the Aurors also don't know the lay-out of this Department very well. We could use that.''
''How about we try to find the entrance hall again and then open four doors at once?'' Ron suggested. ''We know what we're looking for now, so we just have a peek inside and see?''
''Brilliant,'' Harry sighed in relief. What would he ever do without Ron? ''Let's go then, before they find a way in.''
In silence, they continued onwards, traversing the strange floor that made him feel like walking on air. It was a very unpleasant reminder of how he'd stood on nothing in the Cosmos. They wandered for a bit, through another maze of tunnels that appeared to lead nowhere familiar. After about another minute, voices sounded behind them once more.
''You two, that way! Robards, with me!''
''Yes, Sir!''
''How many do you think there are?'' Hermione asked, looking at Draco as they walked further down a slim, tapered tunnel that became smaller from all sides as they continued. At least there was light at the other side, so they wouldn't get stuck in here. ''Do you know, with all your… connections?''
''The Ministry employs sixteen Aurors currently,'' Draco muttered, ''Three of whom are at Hogwarts, which leaves plenty to come after us. Though I suppose many are on missions that they couldn't be pulled away from on short notice. If they got the information that it's us who broke in and they know how many we are, the standard procedure would be one Auror for each of us, just in case. So I guess there are four, at most five if they have stationed one as backup or to cut off our escape in the Atrium.
''Four isn't too bad,'' Harry said, relieved that it would at least be a one-on-one battle then, if it came down to it.
Draco released a short laugh. ''We're talking about Aurors here! Trained to take down the worst of criminals.''
''Yeah, like your daddy's buddies?'' Ron muttered, earning him a venomous glare.
''Guys,'' Harry warned. They'd reached the end of the tunnel, which was just large enough to slide through. Good, the Auror they'd been running from had been far too burly to fit through this opening. After crawling out of the tunnel, a feel of familiarity dawned on him when taking in the white surroundings. There was a glass tank in the middle, filled with purple water and eyeballs. ''Oh, gross,'' he mumbled under his breath. ''Well, at least we know where we are now and how to get back to the entrance hall.'' As expected, the next door he opened led them to the peacefully drifting brains.
''STUPEFY!''
Just in time, Harry jumped out of the way of the stunner, turning to face two middle-aged Aurors. In a heartbeat, he had his own wand out. ''Expelliarmus!'' he shouted back, surprise showing on the face of the woman on the right as she was blasted back, wand pulled from her hand. ''Scatter!'' he barked at his friends, who followed suit. The other Auror raised his wand in the air, that damned siren starting again. It didn't appear to bother their attackers in the slightest, the woman getting to her knees and scrambling for her wand. Harry didn't let her, sending a knee-reversal-hex. Hermione started firing off spells too, but had unfortunately chosen the same target as Harry, leaving the other Auror enough time to lunge at them. Thick ropes shot out of his wand-
''No!'' Ron shouted furiously, jumping in the way and attempting to set the ropes on fire before they hit. ''Aaaahhhh!'' he howled in pain as he both succeeded and failed, flames wrapping around his torso.
''Don't resist!'' the man shouted, looking a bit taken aback and not nearly as threatening as before. ''I'm not here to hurt you!'' True to his words, he released a jet of water that doused Harry's friend from head to toe. But it was too late, for in his pain, Ron had attempted to struggle free and stumbled backwards, harshly knocking into the tank. It didn't exactly shatter, but Ron clearly hit his head pretty hard and his elbow had rammed through the glass as he'd jerked it back in reflex.
As if it happened in slow-motion, Harry watched in horror as the previously happily floating brains unfolded, unravelled, became strings of slimy something that reached out hungrily. ''Ron!'' he warned, too late. One had reached his friend's arm and wrapped around it, more swarmed towards the glass and pressed against it, trying break free. It didn't help that, Ron started screaming and tried to pull his arm out, giving way for the brains to follow with a gush of the murky water.
''Do something!'' Harry yelled at the Auror.
''I... I don't know what-'' the man stammered helplessly ''I've never been in here before and we couldn't reach any Unspeakables on such short notice-!''
''Impedimenta! Petrificus totalus!'' The shock on the Auror's face froze at the first spell, then disappeared from view as he fell backwards like a stiff board. All of a sudden, the alarm stopped its blaring again.
Hermione screeched at Draco: ''What are you doing! Concentrate on helping Ron!''
''You heard him, he was useless anyway and now we have one less person after us, you're welcome!'' the Slytherin shouted back, looking frazzled. ''More are on the way so if we don't want to all get caught, I suggest we leave weasel here and-''
''We're not leaving anyone behind!'' Harry roared furiously, all the while attempting to use cutting hexes on the moving tentacles to deter them from advancing to Ron's panicked face. It didn't work, the severing charm didn't manage to break the slimy tentacles, instead only cutting into Ron's skin. Harry's vision got blurry with tears because Ron was screaming and oh god, the blood. He was about to try tearing the brains apart with his bare hands because consequences be damned, when Hermione knelt next to him and frantically shouted: ''Immobulus!'' The tentacles froze into place and Harry felt confident enough to touch them in that state to attempt ripping them off. However, he couldn't get a solid enough grip on them to do so, and with rising panic, he realised that he didn't know how to help his friend. Hermione was muttering spells frantically, yet none seemed to work.
''Ron…? Ron?'' he breathed, lightly slapping his friend's face, who'd gone deadly silent and pale now, head lolling to the side. ''Is he-''
''There's a pulse,'' Hermione reassured him, though she futilely pulled at the brains in another attempt to stop them from damaging Ron. ''I don't want to move him, especially not with these things still wrapped around him, but I don't think we have a choice here. What's the plan?''
He was torn, because if Draco had still seen an office, there was no way they could leave it unchecked and have all their work potentially have been for nothing. On the other hand, Ron wasn't looking good at all, cuts crisscrossing his skin from Harry's failed attempts to help and frozen brains wrapped around the majority of his limbs, blood seeping out from where they had managed to get a tight hold. ''Episkey, Episkey!'' he mumbled, attempting to keep his hands steady as he drew circles over the worst cuts.
Ron awoke with a start in Harry's arms, blood dribbling down his lips, which formed into a horrifying smile. ''-Arry!'' he said with a hint of amazement. ''Figured it out,'' he muttered, releasing a short, hiccupping laugh. ''Asinus Mustela! That's'- that's donkey weasel! Ha… Malfoy called me… a donkey weasel!'' the hiccups turned into wheezes, then a series of unhealthy coughs that brought forth another fine spray of blood.
''Don't speak, we'll- we'll get you out of here.'' He didn't even have the energy to be annoyed at Draco for the insulting name, barely registering what Ron had actually said.
But where should they go? Each way could be blocked off by Aurors, and he was still torn over double-checking the time room and getting Ron out of here as fast as possible.
''Harry-'' Hermione spoke softly as they were walking towards the dark room. ''Harry, I know you don't want to get anyone else involved, but-''
''Wait a minute 'Mione,'' he panted. ''Ron is heavier than he looks. You know what, we don't have time to be sitting around,'' he finally decided. ''I just pray that other room Draco saw wasn't an office at all, but a toilet or something, for we can't go back. We need to find the way to the rest of the Ministry again and… and Floo to Hogsmeade, or Diagon Alley. Somewhere we can either reach St. Mungo's or Madam Pomfrey. No need for all of us to get in trouble though. Listen, they only said my name so they could be unaware of who is all helping me. You and Draco can take the Thestrals back to Hogwarts, while I take the Floo with Ron and-'' Once again, it looked like their plan was going to be foiled, for as soon as they entered the black hall, a door burst open through which another Auror ran. He didn't seem concerned about Ron's injuries like the last one. Face grim, hair sticking out like a lion's mane and wand gripped tight, he was the perfect poster picture for the profession.
Having no hands free to fire spells with nor time to think, Harry wrenched down the nearest handle with his elbow and stormed through, thankfully followed by the other two, who shut door in the face of the growling Auror. Whether by sheer luck or the worst twist of fate ever, he noticed the ticking of the clocks before even being able to stop to breathe. They'd once again stumbled into the room of time. At the far end, he saw the cabinet they'd destroyed earlier, which appeared to be stuck in an endless loop of repairing itself and falling apart once again. ''Where is that place you saw,'' he coughed. Now they were here, they might as well check it, for he had no idea whether that Auror wasn't simply going to wait in the entrance hall for them to come back. They needed to hide for a bit while figuring out a new plan.
Draco quickly walked to the left side and pushed open a relatively small door that was half-hidden between two large grandfather clocks. Stumbling inside, he carefully sat a still coughing Ron down on the only chair in sight. With dread, he saw a few of the brains had come to life again and were sluggishly advancing in their attempt to strangle Ron. He hit them with another Immobulus, wondering how long they could keep that up.
''Hermione, watch over Ron. If anything starts moving again, instantly stop it. Draco- help me search. There are too many damned drawers here and those things aren't exactly large.''
''Harry-'' Hermione started again in a quiet yet urgent voice.
''In a moment,'' he muttered, focusing on the task at hand. There was nothing he could do to make Ron more comfortable now, nor could they sprint out recklessly again like before.
Draco, still pale-faced, didn't complain. Methodically, they searched every nook and cranny of the office, coming up with nothing. All they found were stacks of parchment and more books. Just as Harry was about to stuff a couple of scrolls back, he noticed that one of the sheets of parchment he was holding had a tiny symbol of a time-turner drawn on it, below which was a long list of scribbled names, most crossed through apart from eight at the bottom. Among them: Dolores Umbridge.
''Hey, check this,'' he said, holding up the sheet for Draco to inspect. ''You reckon this is who has access to time-turners that aren't in the Department of Mysteries at the moment?''
''Could be,'' the blond answered, peering at the names. ''I recognise a couple. One is an Auror, two others work in the Department of international Magical Cooperation. So, does that mean that apart from her, only seven other people are in possession of a time-turner?''
''Must be,'' Harry replied, folding it up and stuffing the sheet in his pocket. ''Might come in handy.''
''Harry-''
''Yes?'' he asked with a hint of desperation, whirling around to face a tired Hermione. Only now did he notice that her left hand stood at a strange angle. ''You're hurt!''
She waved him off. ''It doesn't matter. We need a better plan than holing up in here,'' she grimaced, while reaching into her bag with her good hand. ''There are at least two more Aurors searching for us and eventually, they'll come back here. The other two might have recovered as well for all we know. There is no way to escape, not even with your cloak if you plan on running off with Ron, it won't cover you both like that.''
''Thanks for the optimism,'' he sighed, knowing she was right. If Ron got any worse than he did now, their only real option might be to surrender.
''You didn't wish to risk anyone else being endangered,'' she carefully said, pulling something from her handbag. ''But our friends won't be helped by us getting arrested, or worse.''
''Expelled?'' he guessed, earning a weak chuckle.
''Or expelled,'' she repeated with a hint of irony. He didn't want to break it to her that he, at the very least, would definitely get expelled no matter what would happen from this point onwards. With difficulty, she slid a familiar object across the table. ''Call Sirius,'' she advised in all seriousness.
''When… how…''
''After creating the duplicate time-turner in my dorm, I figured I'd run to your room,'' she confessed, face red. ''I actually wanted to grab your Sneakoscope, but I couldn't find that. This seemed like a good back-up plan. Anyway, call him, please. He can contact the Order and get us out of here. Don't give me that look, Harry. I'm not saying he should come himself, that would be far too dangerous, but maybe sending Tonks and Kingsley in to talk to the other Aurors would help us. Or Ron's parents, Merlin knows Molly will go berserk once she hears what happened.'' Harry closed his eyes. It was easy for Hermione to say – he knew Sirius better than she did, and there was no way in seven hells that his godfather would sit twiddling thumbs if Harry said they were in danger. He'd come rushing in without a second thought for his own safety.
His head shot up when hearing voices again. It looked like the Aurors had really come back. He placed a finger against his lips and snuck to the door, pressing his ear against it.
''Anything?'' came the muffled sound from beyond the wood.
''Not yet, but they must still be in this Department. Scrimgeour is personally guarding the Revolving Room, so they're stuck playing hide and seek here.''
''I can't believe Ms Umbridge was right about a bunch of kids sneaking in to cause such damage,'' the other commented with a hint of amazement.
Harry's heart sank. Umbridge had warned them… he hadn't wished to give into doubt, but one way or the other, it meant the rest of the D. A. had failed. Either she'd noticed instantly that a few students had snuck out of Hogwarts and warned the Ministry, or his army hadn't managed to snatch her time-turner and she'd gone back in time at some point. If so, it didn't even matter that they'd succeeded in smashing the lot of them. As long as Umbridge had access to a single one, Hogwarts wasn't safe.
''One of them is supposed to be Potter. Didn't he kill a Basilisk?''
''Pff, Hippogriff dung. Maybe a garden snake. I bet you-'' The footsteps became dimmer again, and Harry couldn't make out what they said anymore. It appeared that he wasn't the only one who hadn't noticed this office.
He didn't answer the questioning glances, making up his mind and resolutely gripping the handle of his two-way mirror. On the rim, he noticed two strikes for missed calls. Had Sirius tried to reach him again after their previous talk? But his godfather had known they were busy. ''Sirius?'' he desperately asked. From the side, Draco was watching him like a hawk, probably not happy about the prospect of the Order of the Phoenix heroically barging in to save the day. Or maybe he was, if it meant some of them might get arrested.
''Sirius!'' he begged, daring to be a little bit louder. No response came. He was about to put it away in disappointment, when noticing the two strikes again. It wouldn't make sense for Sirius to have tried to reach him again… Recalling the mirror talk from earlier today, a metaphorical stone dropped in his stomach. He'd made sure to carefully push the mirror between a heap of soft socks to avoid damage. It shouldn't have been so visible that it would catch Hermione's eye unless she'd thoroughly rummaged through his belongings, which she would never do. On the other hand, when Neville had come to warn Harry that everyone was waiting, he'd quickly dropped the other mirror before shutting his trunk.
''Oh no…'' he whispered in dread. Casting a fearful look at a puzzled Hermione, he weighed his options. Glancing at Ron, who had slipped back into unconsciousness and was drooling more blood, made him feel foolish for ever thinking there were options. With a quickened pulse and burning cheeks from the nerves, he asked in a raspy voice: ''Barty?''
Not three seconds later, the Death Eater came into view.
''Evan! Merlin, am I glad to see you. We somehow always keep missing our calls, am I right, kid? Sorry for being so absent again. I'll make it up to you next time you visit. Hey, about last time, I do feel a little bit guilty about that ice ball. It wasn't my intention to really hurt you, you know that right?''
''Barty, Barty, calm down,'' Harry hissed. ''And please keep your voice down!'' he mentioned, eyes shooting to the door, not knowing how much it muffled sound. What if the Aurors heard and returned?
The man's cheerful expression slid into a serious one. ''Why? What's going on? You in trouble?''
''Understatement of the century,'' he answered with a groan. ''We - err, a few friends and I - we decided to take matters in our own hands and are stuck inside of the Department of Mysteries with Aurors on our tail. We destroyed a bit too much property to get off scot-free when they catch us, I think.'' Barty's face was far too carefully neutral now, apart from a single time where his eyes shifted to the side.
''You're in the Ministry. Right now?''
''Without a way out,'' he admitted. ''Not for all of us anyway, and Ron- I'm not sure Ron is going to make it if he doesn't get medical help very soon, to be honest,'' he cracked, getting too little air. ''I messed up, I know that. I don't know how I'll ever be able to repay you if you give us even the slightest clue as to how we're getting out of here in one piece without being thrown in Azkaban. Do you happen to know of any secret exits here? Or do you have people in the Ministry who could, I don't know, talk to the Aurors?''
Barty sucked in a sharp breath. ''Did you do what you came there to do?'' he asked in a strange tone.
''I… I think so, yes.'' Unless there was another series of offices connected to the room of time, he couldn't think of where else they would have put more time-turners.
''Where are you exactly? Describe the location as detailed as possible.''
Harry swallowed, a difficult feat as his throat felt like sandpaper. ''We went through what the Aurors referred to as the Revolving Room, at the entrance of the Department. Then into the Room of Time, and to a small, half-hidden office to the left, about midway into the room. The… the room of time is filled with clocks and stuff. Do you know it?''
''I know it,'' an icy voice outside of view hissed that made Harry's heart seem to stop.
Barty tapped on the glass a few times. ''Hold tight there, alright? We're coming.''
''Wait… wait, with we, you don't mean-'' But the mirror was empty already, and Harry had nowhere to look but at Hermione's confused expression.
''Who was that? Not an Order member, right?''
''Mione…'' he shakily said. ''I… might need you to get cool with a few things very, very quickly.'' Behind her, Draco nervously clasped a hand in front of his mouth, not looking very well.
If there had been any doubt left in his mind as to what Barty had truly meant, it was erased as a great rumbling shook the entire building and a raging fury that wasn't his own battered on Harry's mind.
AN: I hope you all liked this early upload :) Part 2 of this chapter will be uploaded next week Sunday.
Please let me know your thoughts! Writing action is always so difficult, haha. I am much more comfortable with mono-/dialogues and descriptions.