I shivered as I sat on the cold stone bench next to Malfalda who was nervously taking notes. The cat Patronus that Dolores had conjured was pacing slowly between her, Yaxley (who was sitting on the other side of Dolores), and Malfalda. It didn't come close to me but, luckily I was able to close my mind enough to stop the Dementors getting to it, the only problem being that it didn't stop the cold that was inching its way into my bones.
I hadn't been able to conjure a Patronus for at least a year now…not since Sirius - no, don't think about that I scolded myself.
"No, no, I'm half-blood, I'm half-blood! My father was a wizard, look him up, Arkie Alderton, he's a well-known broomstick designer, look him up - get your hands off me -" a man's scream tore through me as though I was being slashed by a knife.
"This is your final warning," said Dolores in a soft voice, magically magnified so that it sounded clearly over the man's desperate screams. "If you struggle, you will be subjected to the Dementor's Kiss."
The man's screams subsided, but I could still hear sobs echoing around the courtroom. I could not believe that this was happening. I had sat in this room many times, proud that I could make a difference in the world and bring justice to those who deserved it. I had never sat in this courtroom and not tried to help people. I knew my father had been behind my sudden "career change". It was probably his way of proving to me the power he currently held in the Ministry and that his delusional ideas were met by so many others. I couldn't help but think that this was also his way of keeping me distracted, which was unfortunately working because all I could do right now was to watch helplessly as muggle-born after muggle-born entered the courtroom before being dragged out by Dementors. It was rare that I had no answers, but this was one of those times I had no idea what to do. And I hated it.
"Take him away," said Dolores, enjoying this way too much.
Two dementors appeared in the doorway of the courtroom, their scabbed hands clutching the upper arms of a wizard who appeared to be fainting. They glided away with him, and the darkness they trailed behind them swallowed him from sight.
"Who is next, Meghana?" called Dolores.
I closed my eyes briefly before looking down at the list in front of me. I swallowed before taking in a breath and reading out loud "Cattermole, Mary."
A small woman stood up; she was trembling from head to foot. It made me sick to my stomach as I took in her dark hair which was smoothed back into a bun and her long plain robes. Her face was completely white and she was shaking.
"Sit down," said Dolores in her soft, silky voice.
Mary Cattermole stumbled to the single seat in the middle of the floor beneath the raised platform. The moment she had sat down, chains clinked out of the arms of the chair and bound her there.
"Chains, Dolores?" I turned to her. I couldn't help myself, this was ridiculous.
"You are Mary Elizabeth Cattermole?" asked Dolores, completely ignoring me.
Mary gave a single, shaky nod.
"Married to Reginald Cattermole of the Magical Maintenance Department?"
Mary burst into tears. "I don't know where he is, he was supposed to meet me here!"
Dolores ignored her.
"Mother to Maisie, Ellie and Alfred Cattermole?"
Mary sobbed harder than ever. "They're frightened, they think that I might not come home -"
"Spare us," spat Yaxley. "The brats of Mudbloods do not stir our sympathies."
I glared down at Yaxley who was looking at Mary as though she was prey when Malfalda jumped so violently she nearly overturned the bottle of ink and my attention was drawn to her. I frowned slightly at her as she nervously looked at me and then back down to Mary.
Dolores appeared not to have noticed Malfalda and she continued "A wand was taken from you upon your arrival at the Ministry today, Mrs Cattermole," she looked down at a piece of parchment in front of her and read out "Eight-and-three-quarter inches, cherry, unicorn-hair core. Do you recognise the description?"
Mary nodded, patting her eyes on her sleeve.
"Could you please tell us from which witch or wizard you took that wand?"
"T-took?" sobbed Mary. "I didn't t-take it from anybody. I bought it when I was eleven years old. It - it - chose me." She started to cry harder. My heart sank as I watched her and the urge to help her was almost overwhelming.
Dolores laughed a soft girlish laugh and leaned forward over the barrier, "No," she said, "No, I don't think so, Mrs. Cattermole. Wands only choose witches or wizards. You are not a witch. Who did you take your wand from?"
"Dolores," I said loudly once again, unable to help myself. "Do you hear what you are saying?"
"Meghana, I will not be interrupted by you again." Her girlish voice reached a higher pitch as she turned to me.
"How can you possibly think that every single muggle-born and half-blood could have 'stolen' their wands and magic?" I asked incredulously, shaking my head slightly "There are hardly any pure-blood families left and if they happened to have their magic stolen there would be none at all!"
"If you speak out of turn again Meghana I will send you to the Dementors!" she said dangerously, her face going red.
She turned to Malfalda "Mafalda, pass me the responses to the questionnaire Mrs Cattermole completed for me." holding out her hand.
"That's - that's pretty, Dolores," Malfalda said, pointing at the pendant gleaming in the ruffled folds of Dolores blouse.
"What?" snapped Dolores, glancing down. "Oh yes - an old family heirloom," she said, patting the locket. "The S stands for Selwyn... I am related to the Selwyns... Indeed, there are few pure-blood families to whom I am not related…A pity," she continued in a louder voice, flicking through Mary's questionnaire, "that the same cannot be said for you. 'Parents professions: greengrocers'."
As Yaxley laughed jeeringly as I stared at the locket Dolores was wearing. I knew for a fact she was not related to the Selwyns, or any pure-bood family I knew, but that locket looked familiar to me. I had definitely seen it before…but where? However, I didn't get a second to think about it any further as from somewhere someone shouted "Stupefy!"
There was a flash of red light and Dolores crumpled and her forehead hit the edge of the balustrade and her Patronus vanished.
As I looked around wildly trying to source where this came from, I saw a disembodied hand and wand pointing at Yaxley. He tried to draw his own wand, but too late:
"Stupefy!"
Yaxley slid to the ground and curled on the floor.
"Harry!" Mafalda screeched.
Harry? I stood frowning at the spot the arm had been.
"Hermione, if you think I was going to sit here and let her pretend -"
Hermione!?
"Harry, Mrs. Cattermole!"
I turned quickly to look at Mary who had just let out a terrible scream of fear as the Dementors descended on her. One hand grasped her chin and forced her face back. But before I could even reach for my wand -
"EXPECTO PATRONUM!"
A silver stag soared from the tip of Runcorn's wand and leapt toward the dementors, which fell back and melted into the dark shadows again. The stag's light, more powerful and more warming than any Patronus I had ever felt, filled the whole dungeon as it cantered around the room.
"Get the Horcrux," I heard Runcorn shout as I watched him running down the steps, stuffing something into his back, and approaching Mary.
Horcrux? My head spun as I tried to put this all together. What the hell was going on here?
"Hermione, how do I get rid of these chains?"
"Wait, I'm trying something up here -"
"Hermione, we're surrounded by dementors!"
My senses slowly started to come back to me as I looked down at Mary and Runcorn who was somehow Harry Potter. Just go with it, Meg I thought as I shook my head and pointed my wand at Mary.
"Relashio!" I said and the chains rattled and withdrew into the arms of the chair.
Runcorn looked up at me and I had a million questions but right now, whatever he was trying to do, needed to end now.
"I don't know what you're playing at Runcorn or Harry or whoever you are, but you need to get out of here!" I said firmly.
Runcorn nodded and Mary looked up at me looking frightened.
"I don't understand," she whispered.
"You're going to leave as well," I said as I started to walk down to the centre of the courtroom, my robes trailing behind me. Runcorn was pulling her to her feet. "Go home, get your children, disguise yourselves and run. You've seen how it is, you won't get anything close to a fair hearing here."
"But-" Mary started.
"I understand this must be extremely confusing- I don't understand myself, but you have to trust me," I said reaching out and touching her upper arm. "Go with Runcorn and Malfalda and leave this place."
She looked at me, her eyes bright and wild with fear. She opened her mouth but closed it again and nodded.
"How are we going to get out of here with all those dementors outside the door?" said Malfalda, who was Hermione.
"Patronuses," said Harry, pointing his wand at his own and the stag slowed and walked, still gleaming brightly, toward the door. "As many as we can muster; do yours, Hermione."
'Expecto Patronum!"
A silver otter burst from the end of Hermione's wand and swam gracefully through the air to join the stag.
"C'mon," said Runcorn but he paused and turned to me "Professor, I don't-" but I held up my hand and shook my head
"Please, Harry just get out of here." I looked around at Yaxley before turning back to him. "I'll do as much as I can to help you, but just get out."
He nodded before he led Hermione and Mary to the door the Patronuses glided out of the dungeon in front of them.
I heard cries of shock from the people waiting outside as I walked over to the doors and watched as the dementors were scattering before the silver creatures.
"It's been decided that you should all go home and go into hiding with your families," I heard Runcorn tell the waiting Muggle-borns "Go abroad if you can. Just get well away from the Ministry. That's the - er - new official position. Now, if you'll just follow the Patronuses, you'll be able to leave the Atrium."
I stood in the doorway for a beat while I thought about what to do next. If they arrived at the Atrium with a whole crowd of muggle-borns and Patronuses they would be stopped for sure.
I jogged along the hallway, made my way into a lift and emerged into the Atrium as I heard Mary scream her husband's name.
"Runcorn let me out, he attacked Umbridge and Yaxley, and Meghana Megera told me to leave. I think we'd better do it, Reg, I really do, let's hurry home and fetch the children and - why are you so wet?"
"Water," muttered Reg, disengaging himself from her.
"Harry, they know there are intruders inside the Ministry, something about a hole in Umbridge's office door. I reckon we've got five minutes if that -" Logic told me that this must be Ron Weasley. I quickly pushed my astonishment at this to the back of my mind as I saw the otter Patronus vanish with a pop.
Malfalda turned to Runcorn "Harry, if we're trapped here - !"
"You won't be if you move fast," I said, walking over to Runcorn who I saw was beginning to get a lightning bolt-shaped scar on his forehead. He nodded and addressed the silent group behind him, who were all gawping and looking between the four of us.
"Who's got wands?" Runcorn asked.
About half of them raised their hands.
"Okay, all of you who haven't got wands need to attach yourself to somebody who has. We'll need to be fast before they stop us. Come on."
As soon as he had stopped talking a group of people appeared over the other side of the Atrium and started moving from fireplace to fireplace, sealing them off.
"Harry!" squeaked Malfalda. "What are we going to - ?"
Before I could even think of what I was going to say, I approached a balding wizard I didn't know but, judging by the nervous way he looked at me, I was guessing he knew who I was.
"These people need to leave before you seal the exits," I said with all the authority I could muster and gestured behind me.
He looked around at the group of wizards behind him.
"We've been told to seal all exits and not let anyone -"
"I sincerely hope you're not about to defy my orders?" I asked dangerously, sounding horribly like my father.
"Sorry, I meant no disrespect Madam Megera!" gasped the balding wizard, backing away from me. "I didn't mean nothing Ma'am, but I thought... I thought they were in for questioning and..."
Runcorn stepped next to me "Their blood is pure," his deep voice echoed impressively through the hall. "Purer than many of yours, I daresay. Off you go," he boomed to the Muggleborns, who scurried forward into the fireplaces and began to vanish in pairs. The Ministry wizards hung back, some looking confused, others scared and fearful.
"Mary!"
Mary looked over her shoulder and following her gaze I saw another Reg Cattermole, running out of a lift across the Atrium.
"R- Reg?"
She looked from her husband to the Reg beside her, who swore loudly.
The balding wizard gaped, his head turning ludicrously from one Reg Cattermole to the other.
"Hey - what's going on? What is this?"
"Seal the exit! SEAL IT!"
My stomach dropped as I watched Yaxley burst out of another lift and run toward us.
I turned and looked back just as Runcorn raised an enormous fist and punched the balding wizard, sending him flying through the air.
Reg/Ron grabbed Mary, pulled her into the still-open fireplace, and disappeared while the real Reg Cattermole screamed, "My wife! Who was that with my wife? What's going on?"
And I spotted Yaxley's head turn and saw an inkling of truth dawn on his face.
"Go!" I yelled at Runcorn and Malfalda as I pointed my wand at Yaxley aiming a curse at him that he deflected with ease.
"Meghana!" My father's voice shouted from behind me and I spun around, stepping back as I came face to face with him.
"Max! They're aiding muggle-borns to escape!" Yaxley yelled at my father who had grabbed my arm painfully looking wildly around trying to make sense of the commotion surrounding him.
"Come on!" I heard Runcorn shout at Mafalda and saw him seize her hand. But as they jumped into the fireplace together my father shoved me away from him and dove into the fireplace after them.
I stumbled at the sudden push and Yaxley grabbed my arm as he stared at the fireplace.
"They're not going to be happy with you, blood traitor," he uttered into my ear. I pulled my head away from his and glared at him.
Moments later my father appeared in the fireplace looking furious. The Ministry wizards scattered away from him as he straightened up and walked over to Yaxley and me.
"Where did they go?" Yaxley asked as my father's eyes flicked to him.
"I followed them to a house but that Mudblood got wise and managed to throw me off," he said and his eyes flicked to me. "They were going to Black's house," I remained silent. Of course, I mentally scolded myself that's the first place Harry, Hermione and Ron would go to hide out.
My father was now standing before me, the anger pouring off him like lava. I felt Yaxley shift slightly beside me but my father's eyes were only focused on me, looking down at me like I was a piece of shit. "Now who do we know that inherited that house from his beloved Godfather?" I blinked but remained silent. This infuriated my father further because he gave no warning as he hit me hard in the face, causing my head to snap to one side.
"Answer me!" he roared and I felt Yaxley let my arm go.
I kept my head to the side as I said quietly "Harry Potter."
"Harry Potter," my father repeated. "Well, the ancestral home of the Black family is no longer hidden from us, you and your Order pal's little Fidelius Charm has broken."
I turned my head to look at him, a slight smirk dancing around my lips. "And? You think he is stupid enough to go back there now?"
My father surveyed me for a beat before addressing Yaxley "Accompany my daughter back to Malfoy Manor and inform the Dark Lord that I require his audience in one hour." he looked back at me "I need to clean up here first."
Yaxley nodded as he grabbed my arm again and pulled me towards the fireplace and back to Malfoy Manor which had now become my prison.
I couldn't quite grasp why Harry and his friends had been at the Ministry disguised as Ministry employees. I had heard Harry mention Horcrux, I hadn't thought of Horcruxes for a long time. I sighed as I stopped pacing the room and leaned up against one of the many bookcases, feeling completely helpless. Where was Harry now? And what was he doing?