As you'll see, I'm drawing inspiration for this chapter from the time where Harry, Ron, and Hermione snuck into the Ministry to steal the locket! Hope you enjoy :)
"Incendio!"
Flamed engulf the locket and it's metal flesh then scarlet, but then nothing. The flames die and the locket remained as if nothing happened.
"Dissendium!"
Nothing.
"Expulso!"
"Confringo!"
Absolutely nothing at all could be done to harm the locket which the trio were unfortunately coming to realize.
"Why won't anything we do work!" Cassie exclaimed out of frustration.
"It's dark magic, it's not supposed to be easily destroyed," Joseph said.
"Exactly. It's supposed to be difficult, not bloody impossible!" she groaned. "We've been at this the past week and still nothing has worked! It's already been reported more Death Eaters have broke out of Azkaban, we need to get these horcruxes destroyed and we've barely gotten anywhere with the only one we have."
"Cassie's right, the Dark Lord is stronger than ever and we're running out of ideas of how to destroy it. We need to come up with a new plan," Regulus added.
Cassie gasped dramatically, "Am I hearing right? Stubborn old Regulus actually agreeing with me?"
"Better be quiet before I take it back," he warned.
She was about to retort, but Joseph cut her off before she could do so. "Will you two stop bickering for just 5 minutes? You would think you're both teenagers," he mumbled.
"I for one am a teenager," Cassie said proudly. "This one over here just has the emotional intelligence of one," she added teasingly while motioning to Regulus.
"You listen here-"
"We don't have time for this!" Joseph yelled out causing them both to fall silent with frowns on their faces. "Every day that passes the Dark Lord grows stronger and we aren't any closer to destroying this thing. We need to find a way to do it fast and you both aren't helping."
After his speech, both Cassie and Regulus offered some quiet apologies knowing he was right. The locket wasn't any closer to being destroyed than when they found it, much to all of their annoyance.
For a while they sat there looking out to the river that flowed behind the cottage. Things have been proving to be more difficult than they expected, it was difficult to decipher what to do next.
And so they sat. They sat and listened to the loud nothingness of nature, hoping for some kind of miracle surrounding the yellow locket that lay unscathed in front of them.
As if the universe heard their pleads, Regulus suddenly stood up with wide eyes. He began pacing while muttering incoherent sentences.
"Regulus? What's wrong?" Joseph asked.
"I just remembered something. It's crazy and I know it's a stretch, but I feel like I'm right at this," he rambled.
"What are you getting at?" Cassie inquired.
"Joseph, you were part of the Sacred 28 like me. Did your parents ever tell you anything of the restricted books of the Wizarding World that reside at the Ministry?" Regulus questioned.
"That's a thing?! And all this time I thought I was doing something sneaking into the restricted section at Hogwarts..." she trailed off speaking to no one in particular.
"I've heard whispers, but I always thought it was a myth of sorts... you can't think it's actually true?" Joseph replied, ignoring his niece.
"I can't be sure, but the possibility of it existing won't leave my head," he groaned.
"Even if it was there, how would it even help us? Is there supposed to be a 'Destroying Horcruxes for Dummies' book or something?" Cassie joked.
Joseph shot Cassie a warning look at her statement causing her to shoot her hands up in defense.
"Horcruxes are the darkest of Dark Magic. You didn't know what it was for a reason, Cassie. There's nothing on their existence in Hogwarts because they are that dark which is why there must be a book in the Ministry," Regulus explained.
"That's if the alleged Ministry restricted books even exists," Joseph pointed out.
"Isn't it worth the risk though? We've run out of options at this point. Nothing we've done has so much as scratched the damn locket," he grumbled.
Cassie shrugged, "Seems like it's the best option we have, Uncle Joseph."
"If we do this, and I repeat if, how are we expected to get inside? It's not like any of us can waltz into the Ministry. I'm a known Death Eater and you both are supposed to be dead," said Joseph.
"What if we disguised ourselves? We could use polyjuice potion," she suggested.
"You do know that it takes nearly a month to brew, right? How did they let you graduate early," Regulus joked. "It's a good idea, but we'd be sitting around for far too long so it wouldn't work."
"Actually, I think it might work," Joseph began causing Cassie to stick her tongue out at her Uncle smugly while he rolled his eyes.
"With being in hiding the past year I brewed some polyjuice potion to have on hand in case of emergencies," he explained.
"See! We could do that then! At this point it's our only option to try to destroy this thing," she admitted.
"If you have the potion I say we take the risk," Regulus declared.
At this, Joseph paused for a few moments as though he was deep in thought. "Fine," he said softly after a long pause, "we can do it, but we'll have to plan this out. If anyone finds out who we are this whole horcrux hunt will be over before it even starts."
"So let's get started then," Regulus smirked.
——-
The next couple days consisted of them coming up with a plan that would get them in and out of the Ministry easily. It took a lot of planning, but eventually they figured out a scheme that should bring them no troubles if everything went right.
It was the night before they intended to go through with finding the book early Monday morning. Cassie was sat at the kitchen table skimming through the Daily Prophet her Uncle was able to score while out for more food earlier this afternoon.
She was peacefully reading when she came across a headline that made her drop the mug of tea to the floor. Cassie couldn't even register the worried questions of her Uncles, she was too in shock.
SIRIUS BLACK TO HAVE HEARING AT THE MINISTRY TOMORROW IN ACCORDANCE TO CLEAR HIS NAME UPON THE CAPTURE OF PETER PETTIGREW LAST MONTH
"What the hell is this," Cassie hissed as she slammed the newspaper in front of Joseph.
"Oh, shit," he mumbled under his breath. "I'm so sorry, Cassie. With everything going on I forgot to mention how Pettigrew was captured."
"About damn time that traitor was captured," Regulus grumbled.
"How could you forget that?! They've been talking about clearing my dad's name and you somehow forgot to mention that?!" she yelled.
"I'm telling the truth when I say I only knew about Pettigrew being captured. I had no idea Sirius was getting a hearing or anything to clear his name," Joseph replied sincerely.
Cassie could tell her Uncle was being genuine, but she couldn't help but sit back in annoyance. It made her more angry than she could comprehend that she was hiding out instead of being with her dad during this pivotal time in his life. All she wanted was for them to figure all of this out so she could see her family again.
"Let's just review our plan so nothing goes wrong," she changed the subject in annoyance.
Joseph nodded, "Okay, so I still think it'll be best that only you and Reggie go in to find the restricted books. Since we're using polyjuice someone has to watch the Ministry workers you'll be impersonating and it only makes sense for me to be the one to watch them."
Regulus sighed, "As much as I hate you not coming with us, I'm the best chance at finding the books and Cassie's too clumsy to watch them."
"Hey! I'm not clumsy!" she exclaimed.
"Maybe not clumsy, but you get distracted at even dust flying in the room — are you listening right now?!"
Jumping slightly Cassie looked up from her nails to see both of her Uncle's giving her an 'I told you so' look.
"I guess you have a point," she mumbled.
"Anyways," Joseph shifted the conversation, "you'll both impersonate the Ministry workers then while I'll watch them. Just keep your heads down, search for the books, and get out. Don't spend too much time there as I don't know how long the potion will last. It's not definite that the books will even be there so don't get your hopes up. I'm talking to you, Reg."
"Yeah, yeah, I know," he rolled his eyes.
"As long you both follow the plan it should go well. Everyone good then?" Joseph asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine and ready or whatever, but are we forgetting the fact that my dad is supposed to be at the Ministry too tomorrow?!" Cassie pointed out.
"The Ministry is a big place, Cassie. You most likely won't even see him and the chances of being there at the same time are low too," Joseph asserted.
"Might I remind you of all the times our missions went to plan?" she remarked sarcastically.
"We'll be fine," Regulus said softly while grabbing her hand. "I doubt we'll see him. Why don't you go get some rest, we have a long day tomorrow."
"I guess you're right," she sighed. "I'll be off to bed then, good night guys."
Once Cassie left leaving the couple behind, Joseph turned to his partner with an unconvinced look.
"What do you want to say, Joseph. I know that look," he deadpanned.
"I know you're nervous to see Sirius tomorrow, even if you're disguised," Joseph said bluntly.
"Why wouldn't I be nervous? I haven't seen my brother in over a decade. You know how much I wanted to reconcile with him before we went into the cave and it's even harder now being back to not go to him. I miss him," Regulus admitted sadly.
Joseph brought him into his chest with a sigh before kissing the side of his head.
"Soon enough you and Cassie will be back with Sirius. I know how hard this is, but we'll get through it together," he said.
"I've really missed you. I love you so much, Joseph," Regulus smiled.
"I love you too, Reggie," Joseph replied softly before they headed off to bed in hopes of everything going good for once.
——-
That night, Cassie found herself unable to sleep as she was too busy thinking about what was to come the next day. Soon enough dawn seemed to follow midnight with indecent haste, much to her annoyance.
"You look terrible," was Regulus' greeting as he entered the room to wake her.
"I couldn't sleep," she yawned.
"I can see that," he chuckled causing her to roll her eyes.
They found Joseph downstairs in the kitchen. He was sipping on coffee while wearing a crazed expression that seemed comparable to a student stressing over their O.W.L.S.
"Robes," he said under his breath, acknowledging their presence with a nervous nod and continuing to poke around in his bag, "Polyjuice Potion... Decoy Detonators... You should each take a couple just in case... Dittany..."
As they gulped down their breakfast it was clear Joseph was beginning to get nervous. He knew they were prepared, but it was difficult not being able to help in any other way than waiting and hoping they were ready.
Soon enough Joseph apparated each of them away toward a spot outside the Ministry they would intercept the workers they would be impersonating.
After the usual brief spell of darkness and near suffocation, Cassie found herself in the tiny alleyway where the first phase of their plan was scheduled to take place. It was as yet deserted, except for a couple large bins; the Ministry workers wouldn't appear here for a few more minutes at least.
"Right then," said Joseph, checking his watch. "She ought to be here in a minute so I'll wait here at the edge of the door to stun her. Just make sure you're both silent and hidden."
Not bothering to say anything, Regulus and Cassie went over to hide behind one of the large bins while Joseph kept his wand out in anticipation of the first Ministry worker.
Little more than a minute later, there was a tiny pop and a little Ministry witch with flyaway gray hair apparated feet from them, blinking a little in the sudden brightness; the sun had just come out from behind a cloud. She barely had time to enjoy the unexpected warmth, however, before Joseph's nonverbal Stunning Spell hit her in the chest and she toppled over.
"Nicely done, Uncle Joseph," whispered Cassie, before she and Regulus pulled her off to the side quickly before the next worker appeared.
Seconds later there was another pop and a small, ferrety-looking wizard appeared before them.
"Of course Joseph had to pick him as the worker I'm impersonating," Regulus grumbled as Joseph sent another stunning spell at the man.
"Quit complaining, Reg. These are simply the two best options for you both to impersonate," Joseph criticized.
"Yeah, sure," he said under his breath.
Cassie ignored her Uncle's dramatics as she went over to the woman witch Joseph had stunned.
"She's Mafalda Hopkirk," she said, reading a small card that identified their victim as a worker in the Improper Use of Magic Office.
"And he's Felix Donaldson, assistant in the Council of Magical Law," Regulus said, reading a similar identification card before Joseph went over to pluck pieces of both their hairs.
Once Joseph placed the hairs into the two vials of Polyjuice Potion, he handed them off to Cassie and Regulus who immediately turned up their noses.
"That smells worse than Regulus," Cassie joked while gagging on the stench.
"Ha ha, very funny," Regulus spoke sarcastically with squinted eyes.
"Just hold your noses and drink it," Joseph rolled his eyes.
After begrudgingly choking down the potion and the painful transformation was complete, Cassie found herself to have grown a couple inches among growing in a few other places. Changing into her new robes, she then rejoined the other two where Regulus was now transformed as well.
"This is a good look on you, Cassie. Maybe you should always stay like this," he joked.
"Hilarious," she replied with no emotion.
"Alright you two," Joseph began. "I'll stay here while you both make your way to the bathrooms. There you'll be able to get into the Ministry easily. Remember not to draw attention to yourselves once inside. Good luck!"
Regulus and Cassie then stepped out of the alleyway together. Down the path of the crowded pavement they found the bathrooms Joseph was talking about.
"See you in a moment, then," said Cassie nervously before tottering down toward the ladies room.
As she made her way up to the front of the line, she noticed the other wizards placing a token into a slot by the doors so she did the same.
Soon enough Cassie found herself in a cubicle. She realized that this was more of an unconventional way of getting inside of the Ministry. Apparently they were to flush themselves in, even though that was utterly repulsive.
Feeling very grossed out, Cassie pushed those feelings aside and clambered into the toilet.
She knew at once that she had done the right thing; though she appeared to be standing in the dirty toilet water, she remained quite dry. Cassie then reached up, pulled the chain, and the next moment had zoomed down a short chute, emerging out of the floo networks in the Ministry of Magic.
Taking a deep breath, she got up and looked around to find Regulus across the way. When they first arrived in the Ministy after returning from the dead, Cassie realized she never really noticed the changes in the place other than the new Minister of Magic. She found the Ministry to hold a much darker air in the room along with frightening sculptures that seemed to have the sole purpose of instilling fear.
The changes were all very eerie, but she didn't have long to think about it. After a few minutes of walking, Cassie found her Uncle a couple feet away so she subtly made her way over to him.
"Enjoy flushing yourself?" Cassie whispered.
"That was disgusting. I'm going to give Joseph a piece of my mind when we get back for making us use that method to get into the Ministry," Regulus mumbled.
"Sure, you do just that," she chuckled. "So... do you know where we're going right now?"
They were finally making there way into the heart of the Ministry passing the last of the floo networks, but Cassie had no idea where they were going. Regulus was the only one who would have any slight idea so she had to follow him blindly.
"I'm not exactly sure where the books will be, but out of all the departments in the Ministry, unfortunately the only one that makes sense is the Department of Mysteries," he admitted reluctantly.
Cassie sighed, "I hate to go back there, but you have a point. I doubt these restricted books would be in the Department of Magical Transportation or something."
"Let's just try to get to the lift unnoticed," he whispered upon noticing a Ministry worker eyeing them while they conversed.
With a small nod of her head Cassie followed Regulus wordlessly into the lift. As the doors began to close with only them in it she let out a sigh of relief seeing that everything was going smoothly for once.
"Just follow me when we get there. I'll know where it is when I see it," Regulus instructed as the lift screeched to a halt.
A disembodied female voice said, "Level nine, Department of Mysteries," and the grilles slid open once again.
Cassie was instantly familiarized with the dark hallway of this department. The black-tiled walls with no windows truly made anyone that stepped foot inside feel uncomfortable.
Walking down a particular dark path only lit up by small torches, she followed Regulus as he glanced at each door and its names above.
"Mysteries of Love, no," he muttered. "Mysteries of Time, no... Mysteries of Space, no... Mysteries of Magic, no— wait, yes maybe!"
"You think it would be in the room of Mysteries of Magic?" Cassie asked.
"I'm not sure, but there's only one way to find out. It would make the most sense though," he replied while shrugging.
"Okay, let's go then," she agreed.
Letting out a nervous breath, Regulus pulled open the black door. They were met with even more darkness besides a couple of small torches.
Cassie didn't see much upon walking in except a dark empty room, but as she turned around to tell Regulus this she gasped.
"They're actually here!" she squealed.
On both sides of the door that led them inside were two bookshelves aligned with five books on each side. They were large leather books encompassed with a chain, seemingly untouched as dust has gathered on each one.
"Wow, I can't believe I was right! I'm holding this over you and Joseph for ages," Regulus chuckled.
"Oh, shut up," she rolled her eyes as she went over to the bookshelf on the left.
"What books are there?" he asked.
"This first one says 'Dark Potions' so that's probably not it," she said.
Regulus nodded, "What are the names of the other ones?"
"Dark Charms, Dark Items, Forbidden Items, and... Forbidden Magic! That has to have a chapter on horcruxes, right?" she exclaimed.
"I don't doubt it, horcruxes are pretty forbidden so it's probably in there. Let's just put it in this bag Joseph gave us," Regulus agreed as he opened the extendable bag for Cassie to drop the book in.
"Thank god we found that pretty easily! Let's get out of here though, this place gives me the creeps," she shuddered as they walked out toward the lift.
"You and me both," he chuckled.
They then made their way down the long, dark corridor toward the lift wordlessly. Cassie couldn't help but think it all seemed a bit too easy. Everything was going to plan which was definitely a first for her.
"We're leaving out of the guest entrance then in the Telephone Booth, right?" Cassie questioned as they stepped into the lift.
"Yes, should be quick and easy," he affirmed.
Oh did they wish it was that easy. It seemed that Regulus had spoke too soon since instead of stopping at level eight, it kept going down. After going down many levels, it screeched to a halt far past their stop.
The same female voice said, "Level two, Department of Magical Law Enforcement, including the Improper Use of Magic Office, Auror Headquarters, and Wizengamot Administration Services."
"Why did we go past our stop?!" Cassie hissed.
"Shut up!" he whispered urgently as the grilles opened to reveal the one person they were hoping to avoid.
Both of their eyes widened to the size of saucers as they were met with the sight of Sirius Black who silently sauntered into the lift giving them a curt nod.
Cassie attempted to give her Uncle a worried glance, but as the lift began to move, she realized her dad must have saw the looks on their faces and misinterpreted it.
"I'm not a psychotic murderer like you think I am," he said confidently.
"I-I didn't t-think-"
"I see the look on both of your faces," Sirius cut her off. "You can't even speak clearly. I'm trying to clear my name if you haven't seen the news."
"We believe you," Regulus spoke softly.
"You do?" Sirius said in shock.
"Peter Pettigrew being alive is evidence enough," Cassie added. "We were simply surprised to see you in person after all of the stories. But anyways, him being an animagus makes your case even more so it's hard not to believe you."
As the lift screeched to a halt once more on the right level this time, Cassie realized she may have said something she shouldn't have. Sirius was eyeing her and Regulus suspiciously which made her very nervous.
"No one knows Peter is an animagus so how do you know?" he questioned.
"Oh — uh — j-just talk in the Ministry! P-People working your c-case might have said something they shouldn't have," she stuttered before following Regulus out of the lift before her dad could say anything more.
She cursed herself internally for speaking on something she hadn't read in the Daily Prophet. Of course it wouldn't be common knowledge of being an animagus as it would incriminate her father as well.
"Nice going back there," Regulus growled as they climbed into the Telephone Booth.
"I'm sorry! I wasn't thinking straight! All I was thinking about was that I was talking to my dad!" she sniffled sadly.
"I know," he sighed, "it was hard for me not to tell him everything."
Cassie simply let out a deep breath as she linked arms with her Uncle as they climbed out of the Telephone Booth. The two of them made there way around the corner toward where they found Joseph to be waiting.
Not wasting any time they apparated before the Polyjuice Potion could ware off, but what they failed to notice was the scruffy black dog following them.
Sirius was instantly suspicious that a random Ministry worker would know about Peter being an animagus so he made the decision to follow them.
What shocked him even more was that they left together to meet a man around the corner upon leaving the Ministry. He almost thought he wasn't seeing right, but unfortunately his eyes weren't playing tricks.
Amelia's brother, Joseph, was waiting for the two Ministry workers. Before Sirius could act at all, they had already apparated away together, but before he left, two people emerged from the place they left.
Somehow Sirius became even more confused as the same two Ministry workers appeared from around the corner in different clothes despite just apparating away with Joseph. It confused him for a moment, but then he realized that the two people he spoke to briefly clearly weren't who they said they were.
He wasn't sure who they actually were, but it was obvious Sirius had spoken to two people who were under Polyjuice Potion helping Joseph with something.
Something was going on, that's what Sirius knew for sure, but still the one question remained on his mind: Who were the people in the lift?
This was a super fun chapter to write! I got a bit of writer's block toward the end so it might get a bit choppy, but overall I really liked this one! Lots of non-canon elements so hopefully you all enjoy that!
Quick question though — does anyone have any thoughts on a reveal of Cassie and Regulus to someone? I was thinking the wedding might be a good place to have them revealed to a couple people (not many it would only be 1-3) but do you guys like that idea? I wasn't sure if that's too soon, but I'm realizing that it's the middle of July which means the Golden Trio's horcrux search will begin soon so I'm trying to figure out where to go with my story in the canon timeline.
Make sure to vote and comment! 🍦