The Disgraced of the House of Black - A Multi-Character Fanfiction - Part One

181. Testing Theories

"What?" Hermione shrieked.

"How d'you-" Ron began.

"Saw it. Just now. When I fell asleep in the exam," Harry explained quickly.

"But - but where? How?" Hermione cried.

"I dunno how," Harry said urgently. "But I know exactly where. There's a room in the Department of Mysteries full of shelves covered in these little glass balls, and they're at the end of row ninety-seven...He's trying to use Sirius to get whatever it is he wants from in there...He's torturing him...Says he'll end by killing him..."

Harry was shaking so badly that it took Althea a moment to fully process what he was saying.

Sitting down on a desk, he asked, "How're we going to get there?"

"G-Get there?" Ron stuttered after a moment's stunned silence.

"Get to the Department of Mysteries so we can rescue Sirius!" Harry said loudly.

"But - Harry-" Ron said weakly.

"What? What?"

"Harry," Hermione said in a rather frightened voice as Althea leaned back against the wall, slowly slipping to the ground as she pressed her palms into her eyes. Her head was still pounding. "Er...how...how did Voldemort get into the Ministry of Magic without anybody realizing he was there?"

"How do I know?" Harry bellowed. "The question is how we're going to get in there!"

"But...Harry, think about this," Hermione said slowly. "It's five o'clock in the afternoon...The Ministry of Magic must be full of workers...How would Voldemort and Sirius have got in without being seen? Harry...they're probably the two most wanted wizards in the world...You think they could get into a building full of aurors undetected?"

"I dunno, Voldemort used an Invisibility Cloak or something!" Harry shouted desperately. "Anyway, the Department of Mysteries has always been empty whenever I've been-"

"You've never really been there, Harry," Althea countered softly, looking up finally. She had been thinking hard. "You've just dreamed about the place, and I know they're not normal dreams, but-"

"How'd you explain Ron's dad then, what was that all about, how come I knew what had happened to him?" Harry interrupted.

"He's got a point," Ron said quietly.

"But this is just - just so unlikely!" Hermione cried desperately.

"How did Voldemort even get to Sirius?" Althea cut in. "Amara just had a baby, Harry, why would he just leave? Why would he want to?"

"I dunno, babies are annoying sometimes," Harry said stupidly as Althea rolled her eyes.

"But why," Hermione persisted, "why on earth would Voldemort want to use Sirius to get the weapon or whatever the thing is?"

"I don't know, there could be loads of reasons!" Harry yelled, losing his patience. "Maybe Sirius is just someone Voldemort doesn't care about seeing hurt-"

"That doesn't make sense, Harry," Althea said desperately. "Sirius is too hard to get to for it to be as-"

"I've just thought of something," Ron said suddenly. "Sirius' brother was a Death Eater, wasn't he? Maybe he told Sirius the secret of how to get the weapon?"

"Yeah - and that's why Dumbledore's been so keen to keep Sirius locked up all the time!" Harry said excitedly.

"Really?" Althea said incredulously. "That makes no sense!"