The Ministry of Magic

Arthur woke up at half past five the following morning very abruptly, like someone had yelled in his ear.

For a few moments, he just lay there immobile as the knowledge of going to the disciplinary hearing later consumed his mind.

It was so unbearable that he leapt out of bed and saw that Martha had laid out his freshly laundered jeans and grey long sleeve henley shirt at the foot of his bed. He scrambled into them as quickly as he could as the blank picture on the wall sniggered.

David was lying on his back, fast asleep and Mike was on his side, his back facing him. They didn't stir as Arthur crossed the room and stepped out onto the landing, closing the door softly behind him.

He tried not to think about the chance that he may not be a fellow student as he walked quietly down the stairs, past the various containers full of the heads of Kreacher's ancestors, and down into the kitchen.

He partly expected it to be empty, but as he reached the door, he heard the soft rumble of voices on the other side. Arthur pushed it open and saw both Martha and Ben, Sam, Sirius, Lupin and Tonks all sitting as though they were all waiting for him. All of them were fully dressed except Martha, who wore a quilted blue dressing gown. Upon seeing Arthur, she leapt to her feet.

"Breakfast she said as she pulled out her wand, hurrying over to the fire.

"M - m - morning, Arthur." Tonks yawned, her hair was now blonde and curly this morning. "Sleep alright?"

"Not exactly." Arthur replied.

"I've b - b - been up all night." She said through another shuddering yawn. "Come and sit down…."

She drew out a chair, knocking over the one beside it in the process.

"What would you like Arthur?" Martha asked.

"Just toast." Arthur replied, not really in the mood for flavourful food at the moment.

Lupin glanced at Arthur before saying to Tonks "What were you saying about Scrimgeour?"

"Oh… yeah… well, we need to be a bit more careful, he's been asking Kingsley and me funny questions…."

Arthur was glad to not be required in this conversation as his insides felt like they were squirming. Martha then placed a couple of pieces of buttered toast and strawberry jam in front of him. He tried to eat them but it was like eating sandpaper mixed with carpet. Martha then sat opposite him, cleaning out his appearance.

"...and I'll have to tell Dumbledore I can't do night duty tomorrow, I'm just t - t - too tired." Tonks finished, yawning again.

"I'll cover for you, then." Ben said. "I've just got to finish a report. He was wearing his usual black leather blazer, but with a grey button up shirt and a black tie. Sam, who sat next to him, wore an all grey suit.

Sam looked over at Arthur.

"How do you feel?" He asked.

"Numb." Arthur said, barely able to finish his first slice of toast.

"Well, it'll be over soon." Ben said. "In a few hours time, you'll be cleared. No matter what Fudge will do, the law is technically on your side."

Arthur didn't say anything in response.

"The hearing will be in Amelia Bone's office. She's the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, and she'll be questioning you."

Arthur recognised that surname. He remembered McGonagall mentioning them when he first learned he was a wizard and that there's a Hufflepuff student named Susan Bones.

"Amelia Bones is okay, Arthur." Tonks said earnestly. "She's fair, she'll hear you out."

Arthur nodded, not trusting himself to say anything.

"Try not to lose your temper." Sirius said, trying to advise his godson. "Just be polite and stick to the facts. And once they understand how your cousin fits into this, they'll be more accepting."

Arthur nodded wordlessly once more.

"The law's on your side." Lupin said quietly. "Even underage wizards are allowed to use magic in life threatening situations."

Ben then clutched his watch and looked up at Arthur.

"We should go now." He said. "We're a bit early, but we might as well be at the Ministry just in case."

"Alright." Arthur said, dropping the second slice of toast immediately and getting to his feet. Sam Disapparated to work.

"You'll be alright, Arthur." Tonks said as she patted his arm.

"Good luck." Lupin then said. "I'm sure it will be fine."

Martha then hugged him.

"We all have our fingers crossed." She told Arthur.

"Right… see you later then." Arthur said before he followed Ben upstairs and along the hall.

He heard Sirius' mother grunting in her sleep behind her curtains before Ben unbolted the door and they stepped out into the cold, grey dawn..

"How do you normally go to work?" Arthur asked as the two set off briskly around the square.

"I usually Apparate…" Ben replied. "...but you can't, so it's best that we arrive in a thoroughly non magical manner… to make a better impression, considering what you're being disciplined for…."

Ben kept his hand inside one of his pockets as they all walked. Arthur knew it was clenched around his wand.

The rundown streets were all almost deserted, yet when they arrived at the miserable underground station, it was already full of early morning commuters.

The two bought their tickets from a sleepy looking guard and five minutes later, they boarded an underground train that rattled them towards the centre of London.

Eventually, they reached a station in the very heart of London, being swept from the train in a tide of besuited men and women all carrying briefcases.

Arthur and Ben went up an escalator and through the ticket barrier before emerging out onto a broad street lined with imposing looking buildings and are already full of traffic.

Ben looked down his map before he led Arthur down a side road. The further they walked, the smaller and less imposing the buildings became. Eventually, they finally reached a street that contained various shabby looking offices, a pub and an overflowing skip. Arthur actually thought that the Ministry would have a more impressive entrance than this.

"Here we are." Ben said, pointing at an old red telephone box, that missed several panes of glass and stood before a heavily graffitied wall. "After you, Arthur." He opened the telephone box door.

Arthur stepped inside, wondering how this is the entrance. Ben folded himself in beside Arthur, closing the door. It was a pretty tight fit; Arthur was pressed up against the telephone apparatus, which hung crookedly from the wall like a vandal and tried to rip it off. Ben then reached past Arthur for the receiver.

"Is this thing out of order?" Arthur asked.

"Not really." Ben said, holding the receiver above his head, peering at the dial. "Alright… six…" He was now dialling numbers. "...two… four… another four… another two…."

As the dial whirred smoothly back into place, a cool female voice came from within the telephone box, not from the receiver, but as loudly and plainly like an invisible woman was standing with them.

"Welcome to the Ministry of Magic. Please state your name and business."

"Benjamin Merlon, Auror Office, here to escort Arthur Pendergast, who has been asked to attend a disciplinary hearing." Ben replied, speaking into the mouthpiece.

"Thank you." The cool female voice said. "Visitor, please take the badge and attach it to the front of your robes."

A click and a rattle was heard and Arthur saw something slide out of the metal chute where returned coins would normally appear. He picked up a square silver badge that read Arthur Pendergast, Disciplinary Hearing. He pinned it to the front of his shirt as the female voice spoke again.

"Visitor to the Ministry, you are required to submit to a search and present your wand for registration at the security desk, which is located at the far end of the Atrium."

The floor of the telephone box then shuddered. They were now slowly sinking into the ground. Arthur watched curiously as the pavement looked like it was rising up past the glass windows of the telephone box until nothing but darkness closed over their heads.

Now he could see nothing, only being able to hear a dull grinding noise as the telephone box made its way down through the earth, making Arthur realise that the Ministry was completely underground, which made sense and was a perfect place to hide the wizarding government.

Then after a minute, though it felt much longer than that, a chink of light illuminated his feet and, widening, rose up his body until it hit him in the face and had to blink to stop his eyes from watering.

"The Ministry of Magic wishes you a pleasant day." The woman's voice said.

The door of the telephone box opened up and Ben stepped out, followed by Arthur, whose mouth dropped.

They stood in the middle of a really long and splendid hall that had a highly polished, dark wood floor. On either side were nothing but gilded fireplaces that had dark green tiles, which also covered the walls behind the fireplaces. Every few seconds a witch or wizard would emerge from the various fireplaces with a soft whoosh.

All the way down at the end of the hall was a fountain. A group of golden statues, which were all larger than life, stood in the middle of a circular pool. The tallest of them was a noble looking wizard with his wand pointing straight up in the air. And grouped around him were a beautiful witch, a centaur, a goblin and a house elf. The last three all looked up adoringly at the witch and wizard, which was a bit inaccurate. There were glittering jets of water that flew from the ends of their wands, the point of the centaur's arrow, the tip of the goblin's hat and each of the house elf's ears, so that the tinkling hiss of falling water was added among the pops and cracks of the Apparators and the clatter of footsteps as hundreds of witches and wizards, most wearing glum, early morning looks, all strode towards the fountain, which was in a circular and opening space where Arthur could see a few offices from where he was, being held up by snake-like brackets.

"Come on." Ben told Arthur, joining the throng.

They wound their way between the Ministry workers, some of which were carrying tottering piles of parchment, others battered briefcases; some were reading the Daily Prophet as they walked.

Upon reaching the fountain, where the Atrium became a circular space, Arthur looked and saw a wide opening that showed off hundreds, if not thousands, of offices and high up was a black and white banner of Fudge. Arthur then saw a set of golden gates facing a circular archway, each on either side of a bannister.

At the fountain, Arthur saw silver Sickles and bronze Knuts glinting up at him from the bottom of the pool. And there was a small smudged sign beside it that read

ALL PROCEEDS FROM THE

FOUNTAIN OF MAGICAL BRETHREN

WILL BE GIVEN TO

ST MUNGO'S HOSPITAL FOR

MAGICAL MALADIES AND INJURIES

Arthur knew that if he ain't expelled, he'll be putting ten Galleons in there.

"Over here, Arthur." Ben said, stepping over to a desk to the left of the golden gates that was under a sign that said Security, where a badly shaven wizard in peacock blue robes looked up as they approached, putting down his copy of the Daily Prophet.

"I'm escorting a visitor." Ben said, gesturing to Arthur.

"Step over here." The wizard said in a bored voice.

Arthur walked closer to him and the wizard held up a long golden rod that was as thin and flexible as a car aerial, passing it up and down Arthur's front and back.

"Wand." The security wizard grunted at Arthur, putting down his golden instrument and holding out his hand.

Arthur gave it to him and the wizard dropped it onto a strange brass instrument, looking like a set of scales with only one dish. It vibrated before a narrow strip of parchment came out from a slit in the base. The wizard then tore it off and read out what was written on it.

"Eleven inches, phoenix feather core, been in use four years. This correct?"

"Yes." Arthur nodded.

"I keep this." The wizard said, impaling the slip of parchment on a small brass spike. "You get this back." He added, thrusting the wand to Arthur.

"Thank you."

"Hang on…." The wizard said slowly, his eyes darting from the silver visitor's badge on Arthur's chest to his forehead.

"Thank you, Eric." Ben said firmly, grasping Arthur by his shoulder and steered him away from the desk and through the golden gates.

Arthur followed Ben through the gates and into the smaller circular room where twenty lifts all stood behind wrought golden grilles. The two joined the crowd around one of them. Nearby was a big bearded wizard that held a large cardboard box which emitted rasping noises.

"Alright, Ben?" The wizard said, nodding to Ben.

"What's that you got, Bob?" Ben asked, looking at the box.

"We're not sure." Bob said seriously. "We thought it was a bog standard chicken until it started breathing fire. Looks like a serious breach of the Ban on Experimental Breeding to me."

With a great jangling and clattering, a left had descended in front of them; the golden grille slid back and both Arthur and Ben stepped into the lift with the rest of the crowd, Arthur now finding himself jammed against the back wall. Several witches and wizards all looked at him curiously, making him look down at his feet to avoid catching anyone's eye, even flattening his fringe.

The grilles then slid shut with a crash and the lift ascended slowly, chains rattling as the same cool female voice from the telephone box spoke again.

"Level Seven, Department of Magical Games and Sports, incorporating the British and Irish Quidditch League Headquarters, Official Gobstones Club and Ludicrous Patents Office."

The lift doors opened and Arthur glimpsed an untidy looking corridor with various posters of Quidditch teams tacked on the walls. One of the wizards in the lift, who carried an armful of broomsticks, exited with difficulty, disappearing down the corridor before the doors closed and the lift juddered upwards again and the female voice spoke once more.

"Level Six, Department of Magical Transportation, incorporating the Floo Network Authority, Broom Regulatory Control, Portkey Office and Apparition Test Centre."

Once more, the lift doors opened and four or five witches and wizards exited as several paper aeroplanes swooped into the lift. Arthur looked at them as they flapped idly above his head; they were all a pale violet colour and had Ministry of Magic stamped along the edge of their wings.

"Their interdepartmental memos." Ben whispered to him. "We used to use owls, but let's just say they left quite the mess… all the droppings over desks…."

As they clattered upwards again, the memos flapped around the lamp that swayed from the lift's ceiling.

"Level Five, Department of International Magical Cooperation, incorporating the International Magical Trading Standards Body, the International Magical Office of Law and the International Confederation of Wizards, British Seats."

When the doors opened, two of the memos zoomed out with a few more witches and wizards, though several more memos zoomed in, now making the light from the lamp flicker and flash overhead as they darted around it.

"Level Four, Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, incorporating Beast, Being and Spirit Divisions, Goblin Liaison Office and Pest Advisory Bureau.

"'S'cuse." Bob said, leaving the lift along with a little flock of memos. The doors then clanged shut yet again.

"Level Three, Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes, including the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad, Obliviator Headquarters and Muggle Worthy Excuse Committee."

Everyone then left the lift on this floor except for Ben, Arthur and a witch that read an extremely long piece of parchment that trailed on the floor. The remaining memos all continued to soar around the lamp as the lift juddered upwards again before the doors opened and the voice made another announcement.

"Level Two, Department of Magical Law Enforcement, including the Improper Use of Magic Office, Auror Headquarters and Wizengamot Administration Services."

"This is us, Arthur." Ben said as they followed the witch out of the lift and into a corridor lined with doors.

"Uh… Ben…" Arthur said as they passed what looked like a window with sunlight streaming in. "...aren't we still underground?"

"We are." Ben replied. "They're enchanted windows. Magical Maintenance decides what weather we get every day. There were two months of hurricanes last time they angled for a pay rise. Just here, Arthur."

They turned a corner and walked through a pair of heavy oak doors, emerging into a cluttered open area divided into cubicles, which all buzzed with talk and laughter. Memos zoomed in and out of various cubicles like miniature rockets. There was also a lopsided sign on the nearest cubicle that read; Auror Headquarters.

Arthur looked through the doorways as they passed.

All the various Aurors all had covered their cubicle walls with everything from pictures of wanted witches and wizards and photographs of their families, to posters of their favourite Quidditch teams and articles from the Daily Prophet.

There was a scarlet robed man with a ponytail that made Rob's look like nothing sat with his boots up on his desk, dictating a report to his quill.

A bit further along, a witch with a patch over one eye talked over the top of her cubicle wall to Kingsley Shacklebolt.

"Morning, Ben." He said carelessly as they drew nearer. "I've been wanting a word with you, have you got a second?"

"This better be quick." Ben said. "I'm in a hurry."

They talked like they hardly knew each other, clearly an act to avoid suspicion. They followed him song the row and into the very last cubicle.

Arthur was a bit shocked to see Sirius' face blinking at him from every direction, which were all from newspaper cuttings and old photographs, even the one of Sirius being best man at the Pendergasts' wedding, that were all plastered on the walls. The only space that didn't have Sirius was a map of the world that had little red pins glowing like jewels.

Kingsley looked around and leaned in, whispering "The time of the hearing's been changed. It's five minutes from now and will now be in Courtroom Ten."

Arthur's heart sank upon hearing this.

"Courtroom Ten?" Ben gasped. "Those bastards deliberately changed the time. We gotta go."

They were about to leave when Ben turned to Kingsley, whispering "If you can get away before seven, Martha's doing meatballs."

Ben and Arthur left Kingsley's cubicle and hurried out back through the oak doors back to the lift.

"Thank goodness we came here early, if you were late, things would go way south." Ben said once they've reached the lift and he pummelled the number nine button furiously whenever the lift stopped.

"The courtrooms haven't been used in years." Ben then said angrily. "Fudge is no doubt making it now a fully criminal trial with the whole Wizengamont."

The lift went all the way past the Atrium and went deeper underground and the golden grilles slid open.

"Department of Mysteries." The cool female voice said, leaving it at that.

"Come on." Ben said, looking down at his watch, seeing that they now have a couple of minutes left.

They sped up a dark tiled corridor that was completely bare, with no windows or doors apart from a plain black one that was at the very end of the corridor. Arthur frowned as he recognised this corridor and the door from his dreams whenever his scar prickled. But why would he see these in his dreams?

Suddenly, Ben seized him by the arm and dragged him to the left, where an opening led to a flight of steps.

"It's down here." Ben panted, taking two steps at a time. "The lift doesn't come down this far… bloody bastards…."

They reached the bottom of the steps and ran along another corridor, which bore resemblance to the one that led to Snape's dungeon at Hogwarts, with rough stone walls and torches in brackets. The doors they passed were heavy wooden ones with iron bolts and keyholes.

"We're nearly there." Ben said.

They eventually came to a halt outside a grimy dark door with an immense iron lock and Ben slumped against the wall, clutching a stick in his side.

"Go in." He panted, pointing his thumb at the door.

"You can't come in?" Arthur asked in dread.

"I can't, not allowed. Good luck."

Arthur's heart now beat so fast that he couldn't make out distinct beats.

He swallowed hard before he turned the heavy iron door handle and stepped into the courtroom.

The fact that Fudge tried to make the whole ordeal of simple underage magic into a criminal trial was just sickening. And the next chapter will be our introduction to a certain toad faced troll.