"Well, this is it," Seraya said, standing in front of a bright red telephone booth at the side of the road in the heart of Muggle London. The girl turned to look at the dark-haired boy standing next to her, whose eyes held an expression of uncertainty and wariness. "No going back now," she said as she stepped forward and into the booth.
Only as Tom followed her into the booth, did Seraya notice how tight of a space it really was. She could feel the boy's heartbeat through her back; his pulse seemed considerably higher than was usual. Obviously, the severity of the situation and the importance of flawlessly executing the plan was getting to him as well. "Cozy," Tom mentioned sarcastically, trying to lighten the mood though the young witch quickly caught on to the slight tremor in his voice.
With slightly shaky fingers she reached out to push several buttons in a specific order. The monotone voice of a woman spoke: "Ministry of Magic, please state your affairs." "Report of misuse of magic on muggle artefacts," Seraya answered. Obviously, that was not why they were visiting the Ministry but no one would know. She reached for the visitors' badges that fell into the slot for change.
With a sudden jolt, the telephone booth started sinking below ground. Hastily, Seraya pulled two vials out of her robe's pocket. They were each filled with one dose worth of Polyjuice Potion. The hairs had been added prior. She handed Tom one of the vials and both students simultaneously unplugged the cork-stopper and downed the thick liquid.
Seraya's vial tasted like a mixture of grass and pepper. She grimaced. Taking the empty vial from Tom and stuffing them both back into her pocket, she felt her skin start to boil and stretch. They had changed into their new clothing shortly after arriving in London and could now watch as their teenage bodies morphed into those of two middle-aged Ministry workers.
Once the lift reached the Grand Atrium of the Ministry, the transformation was over. It was perfectly timed. Taking another confirmative look at one another, they stepped out into the busy Atrium. People were pushing from left and right, messages in form of purple paper planes raced through the air, the most recent edition of the Daily Prophet was sold at little stands.
They had decided against going at night since security measures were tighter and during daytime it would be far easier to hide in the masses of people, should it come to that. Seraya remembered the British Ministry from when she had enrolled at Hogwarts. Tom had taken the form of Cassius Gumbell, bookkeeper and secretary for the Aurors' buero whilst Seraya had morphed into Eveline Hopfkirch, undersecretary to the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.
Since the trial and hearing rooms were on the same floor as the Department of Mysteries, it would not be odd for others to find them there. Tom followed her through the crowded Atrium and into one of the lifts. About a dozen paper planes followed them and hovered above their heads. A few other ministry officials trailed into the cramped space, pushing the disguised students against each other in the back-right corner.
The lifts started to move, people getting on and off at every level until -once the monotone voice said "Court of Magic and Department of Mysteries"- Tom and Seraya were the only ones left. Cautiously, they stepped out of the magical lift and into a dimly lit hallway plastered in polished black stone. The little light that existed was eerily white and cold. Seraya reached for her wand and whispered "Lumos".
Tom followed her example swiftly. Their steps echoed throughout the hallway. They passed doors of polished black ebony with intricately designed knobs. Tom curiously peeked around every corner- he had been to the Ministry of Magic only once. They reached the door furthest down the hallway. It was of a matte green color with a massive gold knob, which made it look rather eerie in the dim light.
She turned to face Tom. His pale features looked ghostly and nearly transparent int the light. Seraya outstretched her right hand for him to grasp. As soon as she felt the long, slender fingers of Slytherin's heir wrap around hers, she started hissing out the sequence of a parsel invisibility-spell.
Its magical signature could only be detected and reversed by another parselmage, making it far more effective and safer than any regular disillusionment-spell taught in school. Tom added a strong 'Muffliato', to make it impossible for anyone to hear them. Once the precautions were taken and no further spells had to be cast, they turned to look at each other. "Here goes nothing," Seraya whispered as she pulled out her wand and muttered a quiet 'Alohomora'.
As though opened by a ghost's hand, the door slowly swung open, revealing a circular room, walls lined with further doors. They headed for the one straight ahead, ignoring all other doors. Lestrange had informed them which door led to the Hall of Prophecies. Again, Seraya used magic to open the heavy door and it revealed the oddest place, the girl had ever seen.
It was a room the size of a large cathedral, tall shelves wove their way to the high ceiling, filled to the brim with shimmering crystal balls each of which contained a prophecy. As they entered the Hall of Prophecies, the door closed behind them and slowly moved- more like glided- away from sight.
"Let's go", Seraya whispered and the duo wove their way through the narrow pathways. "Humenum revelio", Tom chanted quietly next to her. He waited a moment, then turned to face the girl. "We're alone in here", he assured and they continued on their way.
It wasn't really surprising. The students had previously taken care of the Unspeakables that would have been patrolling the Department of Mysteries. Claudius had gotten the plan for work-shifts from his father. They had gotten the Malfoy's house-elf to enter the Unspeakables homes and mix the Draught of Living Death into their drinks.
Until someone found them, these people would remain in the deepest state of sleep. Seraya had had the idea to order the house-elf to steal the registration cards off the sleeping bunch, take them to the employees entry at the Ministry and secretly clock them in for work. No one would realize that a dozen Unspeakables were laying at home in a coma-like state.
They passed row after row of milky glass orbs of different sizes. "71", Seraya read the number of one. They were so close, her heart was pumping in exhilarating anticipation. The first prophecy of the next row read the number 73. With a few long strides they reached the row of prophecies that held number 77. It was glowing milky-white, its content swirling slowly.
It looked exactly as Seraya remembered it from Dumbledore's memories. "This is it, isn't it?", Tom whispered from beside her, eyes widely trained on the prophecy. Seraya nodded slowly and watched with bated breath as Toms reached out his right arm and closed his fingers around the glass object. A hoarse male voice carried through the silent Hall of Prophecies as the seer spoke:
"With the birth of death, a new dawn approaches. As death finds an equal in chaos, they teach each other what they are lacking.
Tethered to humanity by the dove, they shall discover their path. Feared by many, loved by one, the madman will descend upon them. With words of malicious intent he will take away both humanity and innocence.
In time to come, death and chaos will seek revenge, their path stained in red and sorrow. In the shadow of fire they will rise to restore what has been turned to ashes.
And the time dawns, when the Phoenix stops singing, since the end, after all, is contained in the beginning."
[This has been sitting in my drafts for a bit. I just edited this whilst watching Premier League so please don't have my head for possible mistakes. Hope everyone is well.]
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Madness- T.M.R.
Fanfiction"There is no good and evil, only power and those too weak to seek it." "You're wrong, there is only madness and those too scared to admit it."
