As usual, the ministry of magic was full of employees, complainers, regular witches and wizards, squibs and even some muggles.
However, to Harry, everything felt a little different from what it normally was, instead of its normally cold appearance, the ministry now seemed a little happier.
The people around him seemed and he was, in fact, a little happier.
As he thought of his newly found happiness, his best friend, Ron approached him. "Hey, mate!" Ron greeted. "Sorry I couldn't come to your apartment to celebrate your birthday yesterday."
Harry smiled at his friend. "That's not a problem at all, Ginny came and we had fun in some bars."
Ron raised an eyebrow, "You mean to say that after breaking up with her and her completely ending any romance between the two of you, you decided that it would be a good idea to hook up with her?" Ron asked in a confused tone. "I don't know about you mate, but I wouldn't go for that."
Harry almost laughed at his friend, but instead, he smiled at him and said, "No, she, um actually set me up with another woman."
If Ron had been confused earlier, then that was nothing compared to how he reacted to the newest news. "Ginny? Ginny as in the girl who gets super jealous each time you bring a girlfriend to family dinners? Ginny as in my sister who would never, I mean NEVER want to see you with anyone?"
"Yes, to be honest, we were quite drunk and I thought why not? She doesn't want to be with me anyway and I can't live my whole life alone, now can I?" Harry said. He really wanted to mean all of the things he had just said, but in reality, all he ever wanted was for Ginny to proclaim her everlasting love towards him. However, that would never happen and Charlene was, in fact, a very lovely girl.
Ron groaned loudly, pinched the bridge of his nose as he looked up at the ceiling and said, "She really is stupid." Ron lowered his gaze and looked directly into Harry's eyes, "Sure, I love her and all, but how can she not realise that she has made two major wrong decisions? She wants you to find other people, yet can't even be even a little nice to any of your previous girlfriends. Now she does this."
"Mate, if you and this girl becomes a thing then I feel very sorry for whoever she is," Ron said very sincerely and even if Harry didn't want to believe Ron, he knew his friend was correct.
The two men talked while finding their way around the ministry and at last they reached the auror department where the head of the auror department stood waiting impatiently for them.
"There you are!" said the man, motioning for them to follow his quick pace to a different department of the ministry.
"Why, what happened, Watset?" Harry asked as he walked past a group of security guards.
Watset looked down on the silver watch on his hairy wrist and sighed loudly. "The ministry has detected a group of surviving death eaters in Llanwrtyd, a town in mid-Wales." His already fast pace quickened as they passed the main hall of the ministry.
Watset continued talking, "The ministry greatly believes that they are planning an attack on the whole of Powys, the county where you would find Llanwrtyd."
"But why this little town in Wales?" Ron piped in when they stopped by the elevators and waited for one to arrive. "Wouldn't it be smarter to choose London or any bigger towns that are, well, more central?"
Watset looked disappointedly at Ron, yet also angry, "Weasley, do you not see how easy it would be to stop someone in a big town where they are surrounded? No, it's a lot easier for a group of death eaters to take over small towns and then build their way up to greatness."
The elevator arrived and the trio entered. Watset fished out his wand from the pocket of his robes. He then muttered some words while pointing his wand at the button panel and soon a new button appeared. Above it, inscribed with gold it said, Department of high crisis.
"The department of high crisis, sir?" Harry questioned. The department was the most secret department of them all and only a handful of people knew of its existence, yet even fewer knew what it really was for. "Surely, this isn't such a crisis?"
Watset who had previously looked down on his watch, moved his gaze and sternly fixed it at Harry. "Potter, you of all people must know that the ministry did wrong to underestimate the death eaters earlier, we cannot risk such things repeating themselves!"
Watset was a highly respected man who had been one of the most trusted Aurors for many years and Harry and Ron had had their pleasure of having him as their boss. Nevertheless, Harry had never seen the man in such a state ever and he grew worried that something was very wrong.
As the elevator arrived at the Department of high crisis, the doors opened and the three men quickly walked down a very dark corridor before they entered a large room filled with important people. Among the people were Kingsley Shacklebolt who had served as the minister for magic since Voldemort was defeated, Minerva McGonagall who represented the voice of the young students at Hogwarts, the muggle prime minister was also there, some trusted Aurors and a few others.
"Any news on the situation, Minister?" Watset asked immediately as he entered the room. The minister who had been discussing important matters with the muggle prime minister turned quickly around and said, "Unfortunately, yes." Kingsley took a quick look around him before he whispered something inaudible to Watset.
"Oh, my -" Watset said quietly as he looked even more serious than before. "We must inform everyone."
"Of course," said Kingsley. He loudly cleared his throat and loudly spoke with his dark voice, "Reports of muggle crucifixions aided with fire are made and people are scared for their lives, it is clear that we must act fast. Aurors are already there to help out the muggles, but we who are here in this very room must find a strategic plan of finishing off the remaining death eaters that exist. Azkaban or death is what they will almost definitely face."
Harry's body was filled with adrenaline and for some obscure reason, he could not keep his mouth shut. "Give them me! I'll be your bait, it's me they want."
The room turned quiet as Kingsley slowly walked over to Harry. Kingsley's mouth was ajar and his eyes were looking at him with sadness. His colourful robed swept the floor as he made his way towards Harry.
"Harry, that is not something we are willing to do," he said calmly. "Although they desire you, they also desire superiority and to gruesomely kill innocent muggles."
"So what's your plan then?" Harry asked, his voice raised as he grew irritable. Surely, the others must see that having him as bait would be the best plan. "Are going to hand over innocent muggles as bait or give them a crown?"
Kingsley's expression changed completely as he turned cold and angry. "No, what utter nonsense, boy! Who says we even require a bait? What purpose will it have?" Kingsley raised his voice as well.
Watset excused Harry's behaviour in the background of the argument, yet no one in the room paid any attention to him at all.
Suddenly, an unheard voice piped up, "I agree with the boy, we should use him as bait."
As the people in the room realised that the voice belonged to the prime minister, the room turned quieter than ever. Everyone's attention was fixed on the prime minister as they waited for him to continue.
"As I see it, Kingsley, you only sent enough Aurors down to the welsh town to rescue the muggles and serve no other purpose. As this is happening right now, we must act quickly. We are lucky to have a willing bait at our hands and it would be unwise not to act now."
Kingsley stared at the prime minister and thought long and hard for some moments."As you wish, prime minister." Kingsley said as he bowed. "What do you propose we do then, prime minister?"
The prime minister sighed, "I propose we do one thing that the ministry must learn to do. I propose you shall act now. Throw in the bait, distract the criminals and attack."
Kingsley turned his whole body around to face Harry. His great body showing nothing but remorse and he said with a steady, calm voice, "Are you sure about this, Harry?"
Harry looked deep into Kingsley's brown eyes and said, "I have made my choice, Kingsley." Harry confirmed.
Kingsley then handed him an activated portkey without any instructions and Harry then felt the unpleasant feeling of a hook grabbing his navel and swinging him around. Then, when he saw solid ground some metres beneath him, he let go of the portkey and fell with a splash in a long river near a little stone bridge. He had landed on a shallow part of the river and his whole weight rested on his left arm that he had landed on. He could feel the stinging pain from it as he tried to move it and he immediately winced in pain.
However, as much as his arm hurt, he had a mission. He then got up and stumbled out of the shallow water and into some thick trees.
From there, he apparated to several large fields while his arm continued to hurt as never before. On the fourth field he apparated to, he finally found himself at the right place, he saw in the distance, cloaked figures surrounding crucified muggles that were burning. Harry could not believe his eyes and stood still in shock for several seconds before he extinguished the fires with aguamenti.
All that was going through his mind was, What happened to the other Aurors?
The death eaters did not fail to see where the water came from and soon Harry was surrounded by the cloaked death eaters.
Harry thought there were at least twenty death eaters around him and he did not like the odds.
All at once, the death eaters shouted out the most unforgivable curse of them all, the killing curse. All the green lights lit up the sky in a sickening colour and it seemed that all that hope was lost.
For even those who did not know what the light was, the light left them with a cold feeling only comparable with years of hopelessness gathered into one unforgettable moment.
And then the light disappeared and the feeling was forgotten just as quickly as it had come.
Don't we just love a good old-fashioned cliffhanger?