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BREAKING INTO THE MINISTRY WAS NOT A GOOD IDEA however it was the only plausible way to stop Voldemort from getting his hands on the prophecy which would apparently be catastrophic. Of course there was the idea of telling the ministry that there were plans to get break it may work however the minister of magic was completely useless in this war and liked to often deny its entire existence.
Therefore the order were taking matters into their own hands like they always did. This required a group of people to go to the ministry. Of course Athena was involved, after Kennedy she'd been the first to volunteer.
Lily and Alice had immediately been ruled out based on the fact that in four months they'd be giving birth (which also just seemed completely crazy). In the end the group consisted of Athena, Kennedy, Sirius, James, Remus, Marlene, Dorcas, Frank and the Prewett twins which they presumed should be enough people.
Dumbledore would be joining too Athena suspected he was hoping to face Voldemort himself. Peter hadn't declined going but he hadn't volunteered either and in the end it was assumed that he wouldn't necessarily be needed.
The plan was simple, walk into the ministry. Athena was contemplating asking why it was so easy to break into the ministry and whether someone should do something about that but she ended up staying quiet purely because she was sure nothing would come of her words.
Kennedy hadn't heard any more of her parents conversation and Athena was sure that some people in the order still weren't sure whether they could trust her. This pissed Athena off as Kennedy had proved her allegiance to them a long time ago.
However the people who mattered trusted her, that's what Athena said anyway. They knew the date that Voldemort was going to break in which happened to be the following Tuesday after the meeting.
Athena was glad that it came so soon after as she definitely didn't want to be lying awake worrying about this constantly like she always did. Remus didn't seem so sure that this mission was going to work nor did he seem keen on Athena facing off against death eaters.
Athena knew this his overprotection was fruitless and entirely based on the fact that Athena had been captured nearly two years ago. However Athena had powers that none of her friends could even dream of. For one she was immortal (at least for the time being) so there wasn't really much to worry about.
However Athena was worried about everyone else. Her abilities may help her to defend herself but she hadn't yet figured out how to use them to help her friends unless of course she simply jumped in front of them whenever she needed to. To be fair, that could work.
They had to wait til nightfall on Tuesday knowing that Voldemort wouldn't try and break in during the day. Everyone went home at night, unfortunately the ministry wasn't properly shut off, at least not from the visitors entrance.
Athena had never been to the ministry, she was glad of this. She didn't know many people who didn't work at the ministry who had been there for good reason. The whole idea of this government who were doing nothing for the war also pissed her off quite a lot.
If the order didn't exist, Voldemort would have probably already won. Athena didn't know how the minister for magic could just sit back and pretend that this wasn't happening. Arrogance is all fine and dandy until it's affecting nearly everyone in the country. Athena knew for a fact that if someone has a problem with defending society, they should not be given the position of minster for magic. This was common sense.
Luckily, Athena had work on Monday. This had given her a perfect opportunity to take her mind off everything. She'd worked her way through three chocolate milkshakes during the day as she'd mastered how to make them perfectly and she meant perfectly.
Tuesday was a different story. Athena had spent the entire day going over everything that could possibly go wrong. This definitely didn't set her mind up well for the actual mission. She'd ended up deciding that a lot could go wrong. Someone could die for starters, she couldn't think much worse than that.
Dumbledore claimed that the worst thing that could happen was if Voldemort actually succeeded. If Voldemort got the prophecy he would be on equal grounds with the order and also would have an advantage towards winning this war which Athena didn't like the sound of.
However Athena still believed that she would rather Voldemort get the prophecy than for someone to die. The thing about Dumbledore was that he didn't really care about people. Considering that he was a head teacher, Athena considered this a problem. She simply added it to the list of reasons why she didn't like him.
Remus had been a lot more calm than Rena on Tuesday. She'd been wondering what they should take to meet everyone outside of the ministry entrance. Remus told her that she didn't need anything except her wand and although that was probably true, she still wanted to feel prepared which she definitely did not.
The only mission that she had been on was in Paris and although this had gone well enough, she presumed that this may be more stressful. Especially if Voldemort himself was going to be there. The last time that she'd seen Voldemort was when he'd tortured her and she really didn't want to relive this experience if she could help it.
The sun began to go down and Athena found her eyes transfixed to the clock. They had to wait until everyone left the ministry which usually happened at seven. Of course there might be some maintenance people or cleaners hanging around but Athena supposed they could deal with that.
She found herself drumming her fingers over the kitchen counter, tapping her foot and generally being anxiously annoying. If the clock hadn't reached seven any sooner, Remus was probably going to lose his mind. However soon enough the time did come for them to take hands and turn into oblivion and darkness, reappearing in a London street by a telephone box.
They weren't the last ones there but they also weren't the first. James, Sirius and Kennedy stood waiting and trying not to look suspicious. Kennedy was smoking against a wall while James and Sirius were trying to have a loud conversation about the muggle sport football which was amusing as they barely knew anything about it.
Remus stiffened slightly seeing Kennedy smoke. He had been like this ever since his mother died. Hope had died of lung cancer that was mainly brought on from her habit of smoking. Since then Remus hadn't touched a cigarette once. Of course Kennedy wasn't to know this but Athena knew that watching the girl smoke wasn't easy for him.
However as the three noticed Remus and Athena's arrival, she stubbed out the cigarette under her foot and approached with a smile.
"Here we are" Kennedy grinned, "can you believe it, breaking into the ministry?"
"As Dumbledore said" Sirius smirked, "we are not breaking in, but paying a visit"
"Exactly" Athena nodded, "where are the others?"
There was another pop from behind them and Frank appeared flanked by Gideon and Fabian who stood about a foot taller than him.
"Cheery o" Gideon winked,
"What a coincidence seeing you lot here!" Fabian laughed.
Athena loved the infectiously happy energy that the twins always emitted. No matter the situation, they were always smiling. She felt that she didn't know them too well but well enough to call them friends and she was happy about that.
They had to wait another five minutes before Dumbledore showed up. Marlene and Dorcas had arrived straight after Frank and the twins yet Dumbledore had taken the longest even though this had been his mission. The laughter and cheerful conversations that the group had been having died away immediately. Dumbledore arriving was the sign that this mission was about to start.
"We better get going then" Dumbledore spoke, "we won't all fit inside this box so I shall go first, you follow after"
Dumbledore didn't say anything else, no plan or anything. This made Athena feel even more uneasy as she realised that Dumbledore did in fact not have a plan.
He stepped into the bright red telephone box and picked up the phone. Athena couldn't really hear what he was saying but a second later he took a badge from the phone box. Then, as though the man was in an elevator, he began to lower into the ground.
Everyone watched until his head was gone. The lift came back up another twenty seconds later.
"We can't go one at a time that'll take all night" Dorcas pointed out,
"Let's just see how many will fit and work with that" James mused.
Athena, Remus, Sirius, Marlene, James, Kennedy and Dorcas all managed to squeeze in which was rather impressive. However it was very hard for any of them to grab the phone and the twins and Frank were laughing hysterically from outside as they all argued with one another about it.
Eventually James grabbed the phone and lifted it to his ear. A calm womanly voice spoke from the receiver.
"Welcome to the ministry of magic, please state your name and business?"
"Um... mission?" James said stupidly causing Kennedy to snort.
"Name?"
"Do I give a real name?" James hissed. Marlene shrugged and Sirius shook his head,
"Um it's... Ben"
"Surname?"
"Ben Dover!" Sirius yelled into the receiver. Dorcas burst into laughter and stumbled forward. Sending Athena into the glass wall behind.
"Shit sorry Rena" Dorcas muttered.
"Welcome Ben Dover" the woman repeated sending the group into laughter again,
"Ben Dover" Marlene repeated in giggles. The badge fell out of the box and read Ben Dover in bold black letters.
"I'm never getting rid of this" James murmured as he placed it into the pocket of his denim jacket.
The lift moved down and Athena found herself holding onto Dorcas' arm for support. Frank, Gideon and Fabian were waving comically from outside as the group moved down.
Dumbledore was waiting at the bottom patiently,
"Sorry sir" Sirius spoke first, "couldn't get the receiver to work"
"Right" Dumbledore nodded evidently not believing this story.
A couple more minutes passed before the other three came down with sheepish grins on their faces.
"Let's move" Dumbledore called and everyone followed.
"What name did you say?" James whispered to Frank and the twins.
Gideon reached into his pocket and pulled out a badge almost identical to James' however instead of saying Ben Dover it said Mike Oxlong. The twins almost burst into laughter again and Athena had to bite her tongue to avoid a melt down of giggles. She was glad for these group of people as she had definitely forgotten the severity of the situation.
Now that they were walking through the empty ministry, Athena was able to take it in for herself. The halls were large and a shining black. Fire places lined the walls presumably as entrances for those who worked here. As they rounded the corner a very large golden statue came into view.
It depicted a witch and wizard, a centaur, a goblin and a house elf. Athena noticed how all of the non human creatures were staring up at the wizards in some sort of sickly admiration. Athena thought this accurately presented the way that the ministry viewed half breeds and it made her feel rather disgusted.
Their footsteps echoed off the walls. It was deadly quiet and it was evident that there was no one here, at least not in this part,
"Do you know where the department of mysteries is?" Sirius asked,
"Not exactly" Dumbledore replied which made Athena want to scream, "but Athena will"
"What?" Athena almost stopped walking out of confusion, "I've never been here before"
"You'll be able to hear them" Dumbledore replied,
"Hear what?"
"The prophecies"
Athena wasn't sure what he meant, how could she hear a prophecy?
They walked aimlessly while Dumbledore kept looking back to Athena as though expecting her to do something. However she could hear the same as everyone else, the footsteps of them walking. Remus was holding onto her hand and she appreciated the comfort as the ministry being so quiet was unnerving her.
"Anything?" Dumbledore asked. The corridors all looked the same, they'd gone down a few steps instead of using the golden lifts.
"What am I supposed to be hearing?"
"You'll know" Dumbledore replied and if Remus hadn't been holding her hand she may have attempted to jinx him.
"Isn't there a sign post or something?" Sirius asked,
"It's called the department of mysteries for a reason" Marlene rolled her eyes, "they aren't just going to lead us to it"
"Would be a lot more helpful if they did" Fabian smirked.
They continued to walk further into the ministry until Athena finally heard something.
"Everyone shut up!" Athena called. Everyone turned to look at her in excitement and shock.
There was the noise. Overlapping whispers, so many of them that there was no way to tell what they were saying. Occasionally Athena would catch a word or even a laugh but nothing concise. However she could tell that whatever it was, it was coming from beneath their feet.
"We need to go down" Athena stated, letting go of Remus' hand as they raced over to a lift. All of them piled into the same one which certainly wasn't easy. This was made harder by the fact that everyone was trying not to crowd Dumbledore meaning that the wizard stood forward while they all crammed into the back of the lift.
"How far down?" Frank asked from beside the controls,
"Just one level at a time, then I'll know" Athena told him.
The lift moved faster than any she had been in before and Athena certainly didn't think much of this. She had to hold tight to Remus' arm to stop herself from falling over.
The whispers got louder when they reached the next floor but not loud enough which meant that the group had to go through the horrible experience again. However when they reached the next floor they were so loud that Athena could barely hear herself think. It was as though these whispers were coming from inside her own mind.
Athena led the way down a long corridor until they reached a door that was practically begging to be opened. She took a deep breath before she turned the handle and pushed it open. The group pushed their way in and found themselves standing in a dark, circular room. Around the walls sat many doors, all identical and none with any label.
Frank shut the door behind them which was a mistake. The walls immediately began to spin so that the doors became one blur. Athena shut her eyes so that she wouldn't be sick. This continued for a while longer until it grinned to a halt.
Now they had no idea which door they had come from. However this didn't seem to concern Dumbledore who was still looking at Athena.
"Behind one of these doors lies the hall of prophecies" he told her. Athena concentrated on the whispers that she had tried to suppress. They were loud and annoying, she didn't appreciate it.
However now there seemed to be a new layer to them. As though more whispers had joined, yet these ones seemed different. Mainly because they were simply saying her name.
"What is it?" Remus asked,
"There's two groups of whispers" Athena explained, "I can't tell which is which"
"Try to follow them" Dumbledore explained however this didn't help at all. They were so merged that she could no longer tell where they were coming from. It seemed these overlapping groups were coming from two different sources.
Eventually, Athena walked forward to a door and stared at it trying to decipher whether this was the correct door. It felt right. She took the handle and opened it, knowing that everyone was waiting in anticipation behind her.
This wasn't the hall of prophecies, at least she didn't think that it was. It looked like an empty court room, steps all around towards a sunken floor that was deeply caved into the ground. Below the many seats and stairs sat an archway, it was alive with wisps of light as though it was a crystal ball and from it came some of the whispering. However the archway was calling her name.
"I can hear it" James muttered, "I can hear whispers"
"Me too" Athena nodded, "they're saying my name"
"I can hear them" Kennedy added, "can't everyone?"
"No" Remus stated and many other shook their heads.
"The archway is a passage to the afterlife, you hear them because you've experienced death"
Athena didn't want to know anymore. The whispers were eery now rather than enticing.
"You were supposed to lead us to the hall of prophecies, how disappointing"
Athena turned to see Dacre standing in the large circular room. Before him stood a figure whose face Athena recognised too well, Lord Voldemort.
There were more death eaters around. Athena recognised Bellatrix Lestrange, Redolphus Lestrange, Lucius Malfoy, Avery and Mulciber, a lanky man with dark hair she didn't know, a few other strangers and a face that she wished wasn't there. Archer.
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A/n
Words - 2933
Published - 27th March 2021
Going to watch Narnia
with my family now
the first one tho so no
Ben Barnes :|
also I've changed the faceclaim
for Archer to Amir Wilson
because he's more
age appropriate