chapter twenty-five : the Department of Mysteries
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"Over here," Harry said, leading them quickly to the battered telephone box and opening the door. "Come on!" he urged the others.
Juniper went in first while the others squashed themselves in after her. Harry went in last and said, "Whoever's nearest the receiver, dial six two four four two!"
Ron did it, his arm bent bizarrely to reach the dial; as it whirred back into place a cool female voice sounded inside the box.
"Welcome to the Ministry of Magic. Please state your name and business."
"Harry Potter, Juniper Black, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger," Harry said very quickly, "Ginny Weasley, Neville Longbottom, Mabel Longbottom, Luna Lovegood . . . we're here to save someone, unless your Ministry can do it first!"
"Thank you," the cool female voice said. "Visitors, please take the badges and attack them to the front of your robes."
Eight badges slid out of the metal chute where returned coins normally appeared. June scooped them up and handed them to everyone before adjusting her own to the front of her shirt. Juniper Black, Rescue Mission.
"Visitors to the Ministry, you are required to submit to a search and present your wands for registration at the security desk, which is located at the far end of the Atrium."
"Fine!" Harry said loudly. "Now can we move?"
The floor of the telephone box shuddered and the pavement rose up past its glass windows; blackness closed over their heads and with a dull grinding noise they sank down into the depths of the Ministry of Magic.
A chink of soft golden light hit their feet and, widening, rose up their bodies. June bent her knees and held her wand as ready as she could in such cramped conditions as she peered through the glass to see whether anybody was waiting for them in the Atrium, but it seemed to be completely empty. The light was dimmer than it had been by day (June had been there once accompanied by Nymphadora several years ago); there were no fires burning under the mantelpieces set into the walls, but as the lift slid smoothly to a halt she saw that golden symbols continued to twist sinuously in the dark blue ceiling.
"The Ministry of Magic wishes you a pleasant evening," the woman's voice said.
The door of the telephone box burst open; June toppled out of it, followed by the others. The only sound in the Atrium was the steady rush of water from the golden fountain, where jets from the wands of the witch and wizard, the point of the centaur's arrow, the top of the goblin's hat and the house-elf's ears continued to gush into the surrounding pool.
"Come on," Harry said quietly and the eight of them sprinted off down the hall, Harry in the lead, past the fountain towards the desk where the watchwizard who'd weighed their wands would sit. Except, the seat was deserted.
Juniper frowned at this before gazing around suspiciously. Something was not right and that feeling only grew when they passed through the golden gates to the lifts. Harry pressed the nearest 'down' button and a lift clattered into sight almost immediately, the golden grills slid apart with a great, echoing clanking and they dashed inside. Harry stabbed the number nine button; the grills closed with a bang and the lift began to descend, jangling and rattling. June could not remember how noisy the lifts were and the loud nose made her feel nervous, not knowing if Voldemort could hear their arrival.
"Department of Mysteries," the cool female voice said and the grills opened. They stepped out into the corridor where nothing was moving but the nearest torches, flickering in the rush of air from the lift.
Harry turned to a plain black door and Juniper followed his gaze, wand ready.
"Let's go," he whispered, and he let the way down the corridor. June followed him, her hazel eyes piercing through the darkness.
"OK, listen," Harry said, stopping again within six feet of the door. "Maybe . . . maybe a couple of people should stay here as a — as a lookout and —"
"And how're we going to let you know something's coming?" Ginny asked, her eyebrows raised. "You could be miles away."
"We're coming with you, Harry," Neville said and Mabel nodded in agreement.
"Let's get on with it," Ron said firmly.
Harry sighed, turned to face the door and walked forwards. It swung open and he marched forwards, leading the others over the threshold.
They were standing in a large, circular room. Everything in here was black including the floor and ceiling; identical, unmarked, handleless black doors were set at intervals all around the black walls, interspersed with branches of candles whose flames burned blue; their cool, shimmering light reflected in the shining marble floor made it look as though there was dark water underfoot.
"Someone shut the door," Harry muttered.
Neville obeyed and June immediately regretted not stopping him. Without the long chink of light from the torchlit corridor behind them, the place became so dark that for a moment the only things they could see were the bunches of shivering blue flames on the walls and their ghostly reflections on the floor.
Juniper looked around at the other doors when a great rumbling noise was heard and the canled began to move sideways. The circular wall was rotating.
For a few moments, the blue flames around them were blurred to resemble neon lines as the wall sped around; then, quite as suddenly as it had started, the rumbling stopped and everything became stationary once again.
"What was that about?" Ron whispered fearfully.
"I think it was to stop us knowing wich door we came in through," Ginny said in a hushed voice.
"Well, they succeeded," Mabel's dry reply came.
"How're we going to get back out?" Neville said uncomfortably.
"Well, that doesn't matter now," Harry said forcefully, "we won't need to get out until we've found Sirius —"
"Don't go calling for him, though!" Hermione said urgently.
"We're not that stupid, 'Mione," Juniper said.
"Where do we go, then, Harry?" Ron asked.
"I don't —" Harry began. He swallowed. "In the dreams I went through the door at the end of the corridor from the lifts into a dark room — that's this one — and then I went through another door into a room that kind of . . . glitters. We should try a few doors," he said hastily. "I'll know the right way when I see it. C'mon."
Harry marched straight at the door now facing him, June followed him pursuit and she could hear the others following close behind. He opened the door.
After the darkness of the first room, the lamps hanging low on golden chains from this ceiling gave the expression that this long rectangular room was much brighter, though there were no guttering, shimmering lights that Harry had told them there were. The place was quite empty except for a few desks and, in the very middle of the room, an enormous glass tank of deep green liquid, big enough for all of them fo swim in; a number of pearly-white objects were drifting around lazily in it.
"What're those things?" Ron whispered.
"Dunno," Harry said.
"Are they fish?" Ginny breathed.
"Aquavirius Maggots!" Luna said excitedly. "Dad said the Ministry were breeding —"
"No," Hermione said. She sounded odd. She moved forwards to look through the side of the tank. "They're brains."
"Brains?"
Juniper moved forwards, too, and looked through the side of the tank. Sure enough, there could be no mistake now she saw them at close quarters. Glimmering eerily, they drifted in and out of sight in the depths of the green liquid, looking something like slimy cauliflowers. "Hermione's right," she said, looking back at the group.
"I wonder what they're doing with them?" Hermione said.
"Let's get out of here," Harry said. "This isn't right, we need to try another door."
"There are doors here, too," Ron said, pointing around the walls. June's heart sank; how big was this place?
"In my dream I went through that dark room into the second one," Harry said. "I think we should go back and try from there."
So they hurried back into the dark, circular room.
"Wait!" Hermione said sharply, as Luna made to close the door of the brain room behind them. "Flagrate!"
She drew with her wand in midair and a fiery 'X' appeared on the door. No sooner had the door clicked shut behind them than there was a great rumbling, and once again the wall began to revolve very fast, but now there was a great red-gold blur in amongst the faint blue and, when all became still again, the fiery cross still burned, showing the door they had already taken.
"Good one, Hermione," Juniper said, giving her an approving smile.
"Good thinking," Harry added. "OK, let's try this one —"
Again, Harry strode directly at the door facing him and pushed it open.
This room was larger than the last, dimly lit and rectangular, and the center of it was sunken, forming a great stone pit some twenty feet deep. They were standing on the topmost tier of what seemed to be stone benches running all around the room and descending in steep steps like an amphitheater. In the center of the pit, there was a raised stone dais, on which stood a stone archway that looked so ancient, cracked and crumbling that June was amazed the thing was still standing. Unsupported by any surrounding wall, the archway was hung with a tattered black curtain or veil which despite the complete stillness of the cold surrounding air, was fluttering very slightly as though it had just been touchy.
"Who's there?" Harry said, jumping down on to the bench below. There was no answering voice, but the veil continued to flutter and sway.
"Careful!" Hermione whispered.
When Harry scrambled down the benches one by one, June followed him, knowing it would he stupid to let him go alone. They reached the bottom of the sunken pit. Their footsteps echoed loudly as they walked slowly towards the dais. The pointed archway looked much taller from where they were now standing than it had when they'd been looking down on it from above. Still the veil swayed gently, as though somebody had just passed it.
"Sirius?" Harry spoke again, but more quietly now that he was nearer. Juniper looked around the rooms, expecting to see someone, but no one was there. She looked back at the veil and was somehow enchanted by it. The more she stared at it, she could hear faint whispering, murmuring noises coming from the other side of the veil.
"Let's go," Hermione called from halfway up the stone steps. "This isn't right, Harry, June, come on, let's go."
She sounded scared, much more scared than she had in the room where the brains swam, yet June though the archway had a kind of beauty about it, old though it was.
"Harry, June, let's go, OK?" Hermione said more forcefully.
"OK," Harry said, but he did not move. "What are you saying?" he added, very loudly, so they his words echoed all around the stone benches, causing June to break out of her staring at the veil.
"Nobody's talking, Harry!" Hermione said, now moving over to the two of them.
"Someone's whispering behind there," Harry said, moving out of her reach and continuing to frown at the veil.
"I hear it, too," Juniper told them.
"Can't anyone else hear it?" Harry demanded, as the murmuring and whispering was becoming louder.
"I can hear them, too," Luna breathed, joining them around the side of the archway and gazing at the swaying veil. "There are people in there!"
"What do you mean, 'in there'?" Hermione demanded, jumping down from the bottom steps and sounding much angrier than the occasion warranted. "There isn't any 'in there', it's just an archway, there's no reason for anybody to be there. Harry, stop it, come away —
She tried to grab Harry's arm but he ducked away. Juniper leapt forwards and pulled him away from the veil, ignoring the whispering and murmuring. "C'mon, cousin, we're here to save Sirius, remember?"
"Sirius," Harry repeated slowly. "Yeah . . . Let's go."
"That's what I've been trying to — well, come on, then!" Hermione said, and she led the way back around the dais. On the other side, Ginny, Mabel and Neville were staring, apparently entranced, at the veil, too. Without speaking, Hermione took hold of Ginny and Mabel's arms, Ron grabbed Neville's, and they marched them firmly back to the lowest stone bench and clambered all the way back up to the door.
"What d'you reckon that arch was?" Harry asked June as they regained the dark circular room.
"I don't know," June said truthfully, "but I'm sure it wasn't something safe." She raised her wand and inscribed a fiery cross on the door.
Once more, the wall spun and became still again. Harry approached another door at random and pushed. It did not move.
"What's wrong? Hermione said.
"It's . . . locked . . ." Harry said, throwing his weight at the door, but it didn't budge.
"This is it, then, isn't it?" Ron said excitedly, joining Harry in the attempt to force the door open. "Bound to be!"
"Get out of the way!" Hermione said sharply. She pointed her wand at the place where a lock would have been on a ordinary door and said, "Alohomora!"
Nothing happened.
"Sirius's knife!" Harry said. He pulled it out from inside his robes and slid it into the crack between the door and the wall. June and the others all watched eagerly as he ran it from top to bottom, withdrew it and then flung his shoulder again at the door. It remained as firmly shut as ever. What was more, when June looked down at the knife, she saw that the blade had melted.
"Right, we're leaving that room," Hermione said decisively.
"But what if that's the one?" Ron said, staring at it with a mixture of apprehension and longing.
"It can't be, Harry could get through all doors in his dream," Hermione said, marking the door with another fiery cross as Harry replaced the now-useless handle of Sirius's knife in his pocket.
"You know what could be in there?" Luna said eagerly, as the wall started to spin yet again.
The wall slid to a halt and Harry pushed the next door open.
"This is it!"
Juniper had to blink for a couple of times when beautiful, dancing diamond-sparkling light shone in her eyes. As her eyes became accustomed to the brilliant glare, she saw clocks gleaming from every surface, large and small, grandfather and carriage, hanging in spaces between the bookcases or standing on desks ranging the length of the room, so that a busy, relentless ticking filled the place like thousands of minuscule, marching footsteps. The source of the dancing, diamond-bright light was a towering crystal bell jar that stood at the far end of the room.
"This way!" Harry exclaimed, leading the way down the narrow space between the lines of desks, heading for the source of the light, the crystal bell jar quite as tall as June was that stood on a desk and appeared to be full of a billowing, glittering wind.
"Oh, look!" Ginny said, as they drew nearer, pointing at the very heart of the bell jar.
Drifting along in the sparkling current inside was a tiny, jewel-bright egg. As it rose in the jar, it cracked open and a humming-bird emerged, which was carried to the very top of the jar, but as it fell on the draught its feathers became bedraggled and damp again, and by the time it had been borne back to the bottom of the jar it had been enclosed once more in its egg.
"Keep going!" Harry said sharply, and June grabbed Ginny's arm since she showed signs of wanting to stop and watch the egg's progress back into a bird.
"You dawdled enough by that old arch!" Ginny said crossly, but followed June past the bell jar to the only door behind it.
"This is it," Harry said again, "it's through here —"
Juniper tightened her grip on her wand, knowing that if Sirius was here, Voldemort knew they were coming and they would most likely walk into a trap.
Harry pushed the door and it swung open.
They were there, they had found the place: high as a church and full of nothing but towering shelves covered in small, dusty, glass-orbs. They glimmered dully in the light issuing from more candle-brackets set at intervals along the shelves. Like those in the circular room behind them, their flames were burning blue. The room was very cold and June let out an involuntary shiver.
Juniper edged forwards and peered down one of the shadowy aisles between two rows of shelves. She could not hear anything or see the slightest sign of movement.
"You said it was row ninety-seven," Hermione whispered.
"Yeah," Harry breathed, looking up at the end of the closest row. Beneath the branch of blue-glowing candles protruding from it glimmered the silver figure fifty-three.
"We need to go right, I think," June whispered, squinting to the next row. "Yes . . . that's fifty-four . . ."
"Keep your wands ready," Harry said softly.
They crept forward, glancing behind them as they went on down the long alleys of shelves, the further ends of which were in near-total darkness. Tiny, yellowing labels had been stuck beneath each glass orb on the shelves. Some of them had a weird, liquid glow; others were as dull and dark within as blown light bulbs.
They passed row eighty-four . . . eighty- five . . . Juniper was listening hard for the slightest sound of movement, but heard nothing.
"Ninety-seven!" Hermione whispered.
They stood grouped around the end of the row, gazing down the alley beside it. There was nobody there.
"He's right down at the end," Harry said. "You can't see properly from here."
And he led them between the towering rows of glass balls, some of which glower softly as they passed . . .
"He should be near here," Harry whispered. "Anywhere here . . . really close . . ."
When no one came into view, June's nervousness rose. What if Sirius wasn't here? What if it was just a trap? And they walked right into it?"
"Harry?" Hermione said tentatively.
"Somewhere about . . . here . . ." Harry said, ignoring her.
They had reached the end of the row and emerged into more dim candlelight. There was nobody there. All was echoing, dusty silence.
"He might be . . ." Harry whispered hoarsely, peering down the next alley. "Or maybe . . ." He hurried to look down the one beyond that.
"Harry?" Hermione said again.
"What?" Harry snarled.
"I . . . I don't think Sirius is here."
Nobody spoke. Juniper tried to catch Harry's eye but he didn't seem to look at any one of them. He ran up the space at the end of the rows, staring down them.
"Harry?" Ron called, looking at one of the small glass spheres that flowed with a dull inner light, though it was very dusty and appeared not to have been touched for many years.
"What?"
"Have you seen this?" Ron said.
"What?" Harry said eagerly, striding back to them.
"It's — it's got your name on," Ron said.
"My name?" Harry said blankly.
Juniper moved a little closer and read:
S.P.T. to A.P.W.B.D.
Dark Lord
and (?) Harry Potter
"What is it?" Ron asked, sounding unnerved. "What's your name doing down there?" He glanced along at the other labels on that stretch of shelf. "I'm not here," he said, sounding perplexed. "None of the rest of us are here."
"Harry, I don't think you should touch it," Hermione said sharply, as he stretched out his hand.
"Agreed," June said, her eyes flashing over their surroundings.
"Why not?" Harry said. "It's something to do with me, isn't it?"
"Don't, Harry," Neville said suddenly. June looked at him. Neville's round face was shining slightly with sweat. He looked as though he could not take much more suspense.
"It's got my name on," Harry said.
"Please don't, Harry," Juniper said. "I have a bad feeling about this."
But Harry ignored her as he closed his fingers around the dusty ball's surface, lifted the glass ball down from its shelf and stared at it.
Nothing whatsoever happened. June and the others moved closer around Harry, gazing at the orb as he brushed it free of the clogging dust.
And then, from right behind them, a drawling voice spoke.
"Very good, Potter. Now turn around, nice and slowly, and give that to me."
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Published 16.07.2021
I hope you enjoyed it & tell me what you think of it!
The next chapter will be THE chapter so prepare!! :) it won't get updated tomorrow, since I'm heading back home now (those who follow me on Instagram know I was in Italy) and I don't have time to write it, but I will try my best to update on Monday!
Anyway, stay safe and healthy everyone!
Laura