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CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR:
MINISTRY OF MAGIC
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Aurora toppled down to the floor, falling off the Thestral when they landed outside the Ministry.
In front of her, she also saw Harry fall down to the ground, Ron toppled over letting out a series of yells. From behind her, Hermione and Luna got off theirs much more elegantly, and they almost seemed as though they were naturals. Harry came over, and helped her up from the ground. He sent her a look and she nodded letting him know she was fine, because that was what she was convincing herself.
When she looked for Luke, she saw him swiftly throwing up. "I'm fine, m'fine."
"Never again," she heard Ron say. "Never ever again, that was the worst -"
"Where do we go from here, then?" Luna questioned.
Harry took her hand into his own. "Over here," he said. He points across the street to a red device, it was upright and tall. She sent him a look. "Come on!"
Aurora stepped into the strange device, huddling into the corner. Curiously, she leaned forward and tapped it, quickly she retracted her hand with a gasp.
Harry noticed her expression. "What's wrong?"
"What is this thing?" Aurora asked, brows furrowing. "Is it a type of car? A train?"
"It's a telephone box." Harry whispered to her. She saw his lips twitched into a small smile. "Muggles use it to call people, on the phone."
"Oh. Muggle's are crazy."
She saw Ron smiling softly at her when she said this.
"Whoever's nearest the receiver, dial six two four four two!"
She couldn't see which person did it, but a robotic voice orders, "Welcome to the Ministry of Magic. Please state your name and business."
Harry yells, "Harry Potter, Aurora Black, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Luke Murphy, Neville Longbottom, and Luna Lovegood . We're here to save someone, unless your Ministry can do it first!"
"Thank you," replied the female voice. "Visitors, please take the badges and attach them to the front of your robes."
"You're welcome." Aurora muttered.
Seven badges slid out of the metal chute. Hermione took them and passed them around. She took the badge and looked at the bold, black words across it, HARRY POTTER rescue mission.
"Visitor to the Ministry, you are required to submit to a search and present your wand for registration at the security desk, which is located at the far end of the Atrium."
"Fine!" Harry held his forehead. "Now can we move?"
Suddenly they were going downwards, and the box was submerged into the pavement. It went through the floors at a rapid past, and from what she could see, it looked empty. Harry hadn't let go of her hand, and she could feel his hands shaking. She couldn't think of any words to comfort him. She didn't need to as suddenly light came through, and they were flung onto the ground.
She landed on top of Harry, thankfully. "I'm sorry."
"Come on," Harry told them lowly, after helping her up. The seven of them sprinted off down the hallway, until making it down the hallway. There hadn't been one person, no workers or security guards, no one. They made it down to the golden gates which led to the lifts. They all huddled in, and she pressed down on the number nine.
"Department of Mysteries." a different female robotic voice said.
She didn't waste any time in getting out of the elevator, wand in hand, and towards the door at the end of the hall. She reached forward and opened it. She vaguely heard her boyfriend say to close the door. They entered a large, circular room. The entire room was coloured dark, and it was almost hard to see.
It was even harder to see when Neville slammed the door, taking away all the light. The only source of light was the blue candles on the wall. Her mouth opened to speak, but suddenly the ground started to rumble, and the walls moved.
"What's happening?" she asked, as it came to a stop. "What was that?"
"What was that about?" Ron whispered at the same time.
"I think it was to stop us knowing which door we came in from." she heard Luke say. He sounded far away. "Look there's so many doors"
"How're we going to get back out?" Neville trembled.
"Well, that doesn't matter now," Harry's voice answered sounding even further away. "We won't need to get out till we've found Sirius -"
"Don't go calling for him, though!" someone said.
"Where do we go, then, Harry?" Ron asked.
"I don't," Harry began. "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. I'll know the right way when I see it. C'mon."
She couldn't see anyone or anything and only saw a pinch of light when the door opened. Suddenly someone had grabbed her hand, she went to pull back but through the dark she saw a tall figure with messy hair.
"Harry?" she whispered, and the grip tightened momentarily.
"I'm here." Harry stood beside her. She followed him and the others into the room. This room was in a rectangle shape, and was much more brighter. The room was empty and had a few desks around.
"What is that?" Aurora asks, pointing a finger at the tank on the desk that has some sort of white-pinkest statue floating around. "Is that sea weed..."
"Aquavirius maggots!" said Luna excitedly. "Dad said the Ministry were breeding -"
"No." Hermione's nose crinkled. "They're brains."
"Brains?"
"Yes. I wonder what they're doing with them?"
"Let's get out of here," Harry's grip on her hand tightened. She looked up him. "This isn't right, we need to try another door -"
"There are doors here too," Ron pointed out.
"What happened in your dream?" she asked after a moment of silence.
"In my dream....I went through that dark room into the second one. I think we should go back and try from there."
They returned back into the other room. She didn't let go of Harry's hand once, and instead moved into his side. She knows deep down something bad had happened and it was probably to late, because that always happened. Something bad always happened. Or so it felt like it. She didn't want to think about it, she didn't want to think about any of it.
"Your thoughts are loud." her boyfriend whispered, down to her. It didn't stop her heart from beating, but for a second when he held her arm, it made her feel safe. "He's going to be fine. He will."
"I don't believe you." she says quietly.
"Wait!" suddenly Hermione had yelled this at Luna, who want to close the door of the brain room behind them. She extended her wand. "Flagrate!"
She drew with her wand in midair and an 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 tried.
"Good thinking," Harry mentions, "Okay, let's try this one-"
They all walked towards the door with their wands raised. She glances at Luke who seemed the least afraid. This room was different, it was much bigger. This room was much more larger than the last, dimly lit and rectangular, and the center of it was sunken, forming a great stone pit some twenty feet below them.
Out of everything in the room, she found herself walking towards a hanging, unsupported black curtain veil. She reached forward and touched it. Her hand turned cold quickly and she retracted it.
"Aurora!" Luke calls again, and this time she goes over to him. There is concern written on his face, but before he can say anything, a loud bang echoes throughout the room.
"Who's there?" Harry yelled.
It was quiet and there was no more sound. The silence was even worse. Harry went down the archway below the veil, and walked through it. His footsteps echoed loudly. She glances down and saw nothing.
"Harry?" she said loudly.
"I'm fine." Harry replied, from wherever.
"Let's go," Hermione called, down to him. She sounded terrified. When she looked over at the girl, she was pale. "This isn't right, Harry, come on, let's go."
"What are you saying?" she heard Harry ask very loudly.
"Nobody's talking, Harry!"
"Someone's whispering behind there. Is that you, Ron?"
"I'm here, mate,"
"Can't anyone else hear it?"
"I can hear them too," breathed Luna, 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. "There isn't any 'in there,' it's just an archway, there's no room for anybody to be there - Harry, stop it, come away -"
"Harry." Aurora says lowly. She tried to pull him away but he was in to much of a stiff motion to even acknowledge her. "Harry we need to go. Sirius, we need to find Sirius. Harry, please, we don't have time."
It was like he was broken a record, replaying something in his head. All of them looked at him for a few moments, waiting for him to say something or even move.
Aurora leaned forward and took his face into her hands. He blinked a few times, seemingly blinding himself out of whatever daze he had been in. He looked down at her, she wore concern on his face.
"Sirius," Harry repeated. "Yeah. Right we..should go, and find him."
Once they left the room, she swore she had practically been gripping the boy. Even though Sirius was her worry, she found the way Harry was acting took her focus away.
"What d'you reckon that arch was?" Harry asks, glancing down at his girlfriend who shrugged. He then turned to Hermione. "Hermione?"
"I don't know, but whatever it was, it was dangerous."
They tried another door, one Harry seemed positive was the one. She found herself growing less hopeful by the second.
"What's wrong?" Hermione asks.
"It's . . . locked . . ." Harry explained, throwing his weight at the door, but it did not budge.
"This is it, then, isn't it?" said Ron excitedly, joining Harry in the attempt to force the door open. "Bound to be!"
"Get out of the way!" said Hermione sharply. She pointed her wand at the place where a lock would have been on an ordinary door and said, "Alohomora!"
"Sirius's knife!" Harry's eyes widened, and he reached down into his pocket, and pulled out the knife her father gave him. He leaned forward and slid into into the small opening, and drew it around. Nothing happened, and the door remained completely closed.
"Right, we're leaving that room," Hermione ordered.
"But what if that's the one?" Ron questioned.
"It can't be, Harry could get through all the doors in his dream," said Hermione, marking the door with another fiery cross as Harry re- placed the now-useless handle of Sirius's knife in his pocket.
"You know what could be in there?" Luna began.
"Something blibbering, no doubt," said Hermione under her breath, and Neville sent her a look.
Aurora looked at the door and waited. It opened, and swung open.
"This is it!" Harry shouted before gesturing towards the hallway. They reached another door and Harry barely even pushed it open and it open it.
This room seemed to be the one. Harry stopped running and gave a small nod. This room was incredibly large, and full of a what looked like a thousand different types of crystals balls. She walked over towards one that was on the seventh shelf,
"You said it was row ninety-seven," whispered Hermione.
"Yeah."
"We need to go right, I think," whispered Hermione, squinting to the next row. "Yes . . . that's fifty-four. . . ."
"Keep your wands out," Harry said softly.
They crept forward, staring behind them as they went on down the aisles. She was sure someone was going to come forward and most likely kill them, but Aurora was so tired at this point, she hadn't cared. The more they walked, the more quiet it got. It made her wonder if her father was here.
Part of her felt as though she would have known if he was here. Perhaps that didn't make sense, but Sirius did tell her that her powers relied on a lot of things and sense were one of them; that she would know.
"Ninety-seven!" whispered Hermione, as they reached this row.
"Harry." Ron called, the tone of his voice full of nerves. "Have you seen this?"
"What?" Harry repeated glumly.
"It's - it's got your name on."
Aurora went over to both boys and looked in between them. One of the glass sphere that had been covered in dust. She leaned forward and swiped her hand across the label, that had a date that was wrote sixteen years ago. However his name was not the only one.
"My name?"
S.P.T. to A.P.W.B.D. Dark Lord
and
(?) Harry Potter
"What is it?" Ron asked, sounding terrified. "What's your name doing down here?".
"I'm not here," Harry says, sounding perplexed. "None of the rest of us are here. . . ."
"Harry, I don't think you should touch it." Hermione told him sharply. "Harry."
"Why not?" her boyfriend replied in an almost bored tone. "It's something to do with me, isn't it?"
"Don't, Harry," Neville added. Luna stood closely behind him, and when she looked down she saw their hands were intertwined.
"It's got my name on." Harry whispers.
"Really?" she whispers back in sarcasm. "I didn't see that."
Harry leaned forward and closed his hand around the crystal ball. She saw his brows furrow in slight surprise, he took the ball from the shelf and examined it. Expectantly, she looked at it.
Aurora suddenly felt the same cold feeling from earlier come upon her. She turns around and looks towards one of the aisles. She glances up at Harry who hadn't moved, she waited a moment before walking two aisles down. She was greeted with nothing.
She scrunched her nose. "Weird."
Before she could turn around, suddenly her throat went numb, completely numb. Her air supply left so soon that no noise was able to come from her throat. Someone had grabbed her swiftly, someone in hiding. The hand around her brought a ragged old shirt up to her mouth, and the fumes that came from it had been a horrible smelling thing. She tried to pry away but she couldn't. She found her throat burning had been the least of her worries.
She leaned across and attempted to knock one of the crystals down off.
She tried to stay awake, she tried to keep her eyes open and not inhale the scents that filled her mind, but it became impossible. She thought she had done it and she was sure any second that she would be able to open her eyes or move her arms, but the control left her. Her arms fell numb.
And everything became dark after that.
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opp not good for aurora...
This chapter wasn't the best and was short and small but still!! I might have the next chapter up after this one if I get a chance !!
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