a/n: Many thanks to denniud and poka reading and reviewing!
Prompt 12: Is it all sorted then?
Prompt 9: I told you not to touch that
Prompt 10: There are more important things, eh?
Chapter 3
Harry wrapped up his briefing on the grove. He placed marks on the ministry map, highlighting the best path back to the grove and several possible locations within the Dark Forest for a forward base. It was light on details and he didn't share the founder's map. It was the right call. The fewer people who knew about the document the better. For now. Hermione tried not to be disruptive. She stood in the back of the gathered officials and listened. She wasn't one to throw the weight of the ICW around unless the situation warranted it. Despite her efforts though, she caught many eyes turning toward her. She thought after fifteen years she wouldn't be so interesting. Then again, she left the country after the battle for Hogwarts and didn't look back.
Not on purpose. She found her parents in Australia, reversed the memory charm, and had to help them understand her actions. It wasn't easy. She agreed to travel around Australia to mend their relationship, to see their favorite spots. It was a way for them to say good bye to the life they created for themselves there. And then she realized she had developed a case of wanderlust. The world was calling to her. All the wonders she'd read about, she could go see for herself. Financing her travels by getting gigs making potions or breaking curses, she made a name for herself apart from Undesirable Number 2, known associate of Harry Potter. Of course she missed Harry and Ron, but it was nice to know she could stand on her own. Part of her knew she wouldn't have such an advantage in England. The golden trio had caught on in the papers. There were endless requests for the three of them to attend groundbreaking ceremonies and interviews. Neither she, Ron, nor Harry were interested in such publicity. If either of her friends had been, she might have been convinced to return occasionally. Instead, they each established new lives for themselves.
The ICW had asked her many times to take a post in London. They assumed she'd have the notoriety needed to grease wheels. Some goodwill to even out clashes that occasionally happened between two enormous bureaucracies. She wasn't interested in being a figurehead. She thought that might have changed now. She thought after more than a decade away she'd be forgotten. And she hoped her years of service with the ICW would be more valuable than an exaggerated legend. The jury was still out on this assumption. They placed her in a serious position with an active case load. Not a dignitary or ambassador role. That was something. Hopefully the novelty of her return would wear off the more she got out into the field. For the taskforce she was certain that would happen the first time she made their operation inconvenient.
"We need to get a team inside the grove. If we can figure out what the trespassers are interested in, we'll be more likely to identify them," the lead auror stepped up to summarized their objectives. "Once the team is in place, we'll establish communications and determine the feasibility of setting up an ambush. Team assignments are set, everyone check your code bracelets. Orange team is with me. We're heading into the forest. Blue team. Set up the forward base at the location the Headmaster recommends. Stay hidden."
The group split up. The aurors checked their wrists for their partner assignments and team colors. Some started grumbling when they realized they were taking the long hike into the forest. The head auror approached her. "Mister Williamson. You've put together a thorough operations plan," she said, let him lead here away from the group.
"You sound surprised, AD Granger," he said with a knowing look. She opened her mouth to apologize for the implication, he stopped her, "The ministry doesn't exactly have a sterling reputation. Certainly not the administration that was in charge when you left the country. We do still have a reputation of being heavy handed. That comes with years of cynicism."
"To be fair, my experience with the British Ministry is limited. I didn't get a bracelet," she noted.
"No. You get to go where you think best."
She looked up and looked around for Harry, catching his attention. "I'd prefer to go in with the orange team. I'd like to see what's back there as soon as possible," she said.
Harry stepped away from the blue team and joined them.
"Is it all sorted then?" the auror asked Harry.
He nodded. "They'll be just inside the enchantments. If they need to disapparate, they'll be a few steps away from an unprotected path. I'd like to go with you as well. We know the grove has a connection to the school. I'd appreciate the ability to protect that history. Assuming anything is left."
Williamson nodded. "Let's head out!" he called to the group.
Hermione leaned close to Harry. "I know a good freezing spell. If you need a few minutes to conceal anything."
"You're still scary, you know that?" he said to her. "Keep your wand out. I have no idea what we'll find."
~~/~~
The hike to the grove took longer than anticipated. There were more damaged areas along the path than he expected. Trees were felled. Large holes in the ground were all that were left of naturally growing magical herbs. It was frustrating for Harry to see. It had been going on under his nose. If the centaurs hadn't raised the alarm hundreds of hectares could be laid bare. Harry was grateful the aurors were taking the vandalism seriously. After all, this could be considered petty crime if it was only property damage. They documented everything they could. If specific items showed up for sale in Knockturn Alley or on the black market, they'd investigate. Hermione kept her own records in the event this situation was bigger than just local thieves.
The trees in front of them towered over the rest of the Dark Forest. They were taller than the redwoods Harry had seen in the states while on vacation with Teddy. It was surprising to see something prehistoric so close to the school.
Everyone had their wands out. Harry doubted they'd run into anyone in broad daylight, but there was a chance that the area was so secluded the suspects they sought wouldn't think they needed the cover of night. "It's quiet," he whispered.
Hermione nodded. "There's a clear decrease in wildlife back here. Either they know there's something wrong and are staying away or there are enchantments in place to contain this area."
They both knew the map was bare. Likely a protection against tracking. They wouldn't know until they pushed forward. Harry climbed up and over a boulder as he worked his way to the front of the group. He wanted to be the first one inside the grove. He wasn't sure if Williamson would allow it. Pulling out his invisibility cloak from a deep pocket inside his rucksack, he approached the auror. "I'd like to go in. I won't be seen. I can check it out and warn you if there's any danger." And if the founders protected this place, it might take a headmaster to disengage any safety measures, he thought to himself.
The head auror eyed the cloak. After several seconds he finally nodded. "In and out. Five minutes. If we don't see you back here in five minutes we're going in hot."
"Yeah. Deal. Thanks," Harry said quickly, disappeared under the cloak before Williamson had time to change his mind. He looked at his watch, memorized the time to the second. They didn't really know where the enchantments started. He knew the second he encountered them. A heat washed over him. It was still eerily quiet. Turning on the spot, he couldn't see the others. "Homenum revelio," he whispered. Nothing happened. Pulling out the map he unrolled it. Shockingly, there was a note that listed the headmaster was within the grove. There was a similar note inside the cave. Was it leading him there? Craning his neck, he tried to see passed the trees. He wasn't sure he could get up to the cave and back in five minutes. It looked like a steep climb He could give them the all clear, let them in to verify while he climbed up to the cave.
Taking his cloak off, he ran to the edge of the charms. "It's clear. There's no one here. There's nothing here," he said. His words mobilized the aurors. He let them rush forward and he took Hermione's arm when she got close. "The map knows I'm here. It wants me in the cave."
Her eyes narrowed. "I don't like it, Harry. What do you mean it wants you in the cave?"
"Come here," he said, pulling her forward, back across the protections. The aurors were already spread out within the grove. They were preoccupied. It would be a matter of time before they found the cave. Showing her the corner of the map, there were now several more labels. Just titles of the aurors and the ICW Assistant Director. No names. "See. There. The headmaster is where I'm standing and also in the cave. It wants me up there."
"I don't know that's what it means."
"Well, why would there be two?" he asked, bouncing on the balls of his feet. He needed her to agree with him. "Come on, we'll go up together," he said, spotting a path along the cliff face. He didn't think it was there before. He wasn't going to tell Hermione that. She'd be even more cautious. He put the cloak on over both of them so the aurors wouldn't follow them.
She let out a gasp at his sudden action, but didn't protest as he pulled her over and up the path. Steps formed in front of them, it was responding to him, he was sure of it. Looking down, he knew it would only be a few minutes before Williamson realized he was missing two team members. Picking up the pace, he had to put the map and wand in his pocket to free up his hands when the steps became nearly vertical.
"Harry, this is dangerous," Hermione complained. Still she kept up so as to not lose the concealment of the cloak. They were both out of breath by the time they stepped onto a ledge. A wooden door appeared in the rock face.
Harry reached out toward the cast iron handle.
"Don't touch that!" Hermione hissed out.
It was too late, his hand wrapped around the cool metal. The ground shook under his feet. Aurors from grove let out shouts of surprise.
Hermione and Harry were both looking down to make sure everyone was safe. "I told you not to touch that," she said.
Harry wasn't listening. He was looking inside the open door. "Hermione."
"No Harry, that was irresponsible. We don't know what's going on. If magic wants you to go somewhere, in my experience that's all the more reason to stop and figure out why," she was scolding him, but still wasn't looking at the sight he was.
"Hermione!" he said sharply. "Look!"
"What?" she shot back, head turning. Her eyes went the door was a vast landscape of trees, structures, vibrant flowers, flying creatures dotting a clear blue took in a breath. She looked up to confirm the ground was solid directly above the door. It wasn't like they were looking out onto the other side of the cliff. This ecosystem was inside the cave. "Harry. That's a crying violet. And, oh, that's a pygmy mammoth down there. They're both extinct." A loud roar in the distance drifted up and out of the cave.
"What was that?" a concerned auror below asked.
Harry acted fast, he pushed Hermione forward and closed the door behind them.
~~/~~
Hermione took a moment to process what Harry had just done. She was mostly annoyed. When she said she'd help him conceal what they found if he needed to, she didn't agree to be pulled into a dangerous situation without proper precautions. Stepping out from under the cloak, she felt her hair being pushed and pulled. "Harry have you lost your mind," she said to the empty space in front of her while she tried to straighten her hair.
He appeared when he slipped the cloak away. "The aurors were going to see the door was open," he explained. "We needed more time."
Looking toward the entrance, her stomach flipped. The door was gone. It was a stone surface. "The door! Harry it's gone," she said, pushing on the rock. It was a solid wall of granite. "We don't know what this is." She wasn't panicking. Yet. But the life she'd seen so far was extinct. They could be thousands of years in the past for all they knew. She took her wand out. She'd obliterate the stone if she needed too.
Harry joined her. When his hand touched the stone, the door appeared. They looked at each other in surprise. He opened it a crack to let her see the grove below. The aurors appeared to be going about their business, securing the grove. He closed it. "It will take them time to regroup. They won't know we're not with them until then. We need to figure out what this is before we know if the ministry should know about this."
Taking in an unsteady breath. She was forced to agree with him. She was used to protocols and procedures. She should have known they'd all go out the window with Harry Potter. "Fine. But there could be dangerous creatures in here. We have to be smart. There are more important things than solving this mystery this very minute."
"Fine. Okay. You take the lead. We need to make sure no one is in here. They might be poachers going after that pygmy mammoth," he said as seriously as he could. He couldn't hide how much he was enjoying the situation.
She rolled her eyes. "You really need to get out more and have fun," she said, and stepped up to a flowering plant. It was clearly a crying violet. And it was blooming. Digging in her pocket, she took out a phial and collected several drops as they fell from the petals. "This has powerful healing properties but they're impossible to grow in greenhouses. They need pollination from something that was never discovered in time to save it. It was over-harvested in the sixteenth century."
Harry looked around. They were standing on a ledge similar to the one on the other side. The sun was very clearly shining down on the preserved ecosystem. It didn't feel like an artificial light. She guessed the rock above them was invisible in one direction. It was an easy enough spell to manage. But if the Founders did this, that meant the spells had held for a thousand years. "Harry! Watch your hand," Hermione called out. He was preparing to climb down further and was about to brace himself on the ground.
He pulled his hand back to see whatever concerned her. It was clear he didn't recognize the land fish. It blended into the rock. She met him at the edge, and pointed her wand at the "rock", placing a shield spell between them. The change in pressure got a reaction from the land fish, several quills shot out, but hit the shield and landed with small pings on the ground. It skittered away into a nearby bush. "What was that?" he asked, rubbing his hand, understanding how close he'd come to having it impaled with multiple projectiles.
"The rock of despair. That's what witches and wizards called it anyway. It's a land fish. The quills are coated with a poison that makes you hallucinate your greatest fears and relive your most painful losses."
"Let me guess. It's extinct." he said wryly.
"Yes. This one was by design. After a terrible war and famine in eighteen sixty, people's fears were intense, the effects of the poison became so potent, it was fatal," she explained, looked him over. She guessed he had enough heartbreak in his past that it would be just as fatal to him. "Please. Watch where you put your hands."
"I don't think it's my fault everything in the past was trying to kill people," he said.
She refrained from pointing out that it was his fault they were surrounded by deadly relics without proper protections. "Revelio," she said, waving her wand over the most obvious path down. Several more land fish skittered away. Satisfied it was relatively safe, she took the lead, slowly climbing down to the valley below. The pygmy mammoth watched with curiosity until they got close enough for it to consider them a threat. It ran off to a herd grazing in a field of lavender colored grass. "This is… amazing," she finally let the wonder of the environment overtake her annoyance. "We need to document every species in here. Think of everything we can learn."
"There are more important things, eh?" Harry said with a laugh, knowing he'd overcome her resistance to solving the mystery.
She smacked his arm, but couldn't hide she was finally enjoying the adventure. "Check the map. Does it show you in the cave?"
Harry pulled out the parchment and unrolled it. "Oh, wow," he said and showed it to her.
They were in the cave. That entire area of the map had been replaced by an area labeled Aos Sí Treaty Protection Zone. The sheer number of creatures, herbs, beasts was overwhelming. But the most surprising of all, was the clearly marked village center. It was fully populated.
