A/N: It occurs to me that, thus far, you know how the principles operate in terms of magical ability and/or machinations, while you don't know that about Lazarus. To be honest I never anticipated the Unspeakables having a big role in the story when I first thought to include them (and Lazarus as a character in particular), so this problem never really came up. To that effect, I've included a little bit of Lazarus working his magic that ought to reinforce Jeremy's notions from the last chapter.
Remember the time that elapses throughout the snippets of training I provide, so don't be surprised if people start displaying skills they didn't have before. There'll be more with Percy/Arthur in the next chapter as well, to give it more airtime.
Chapter 27: The Ministry's Shepherd
1 month into training
Ron collapsed back into the provided couch in the training area of Potter Manor, sweat beating down off his brow and his breath coming in short gasps. He nearly keeled over in thanks when Dobby popped into the room and provided him with water in a conjured bottle. Taking a deep drink, he threw down the half empty bottle in his lap and looked around at his companions, each of them in varying states of exhaustion.
Neville was the worst off, though the training thus far seemed to have the most dramatic change in the young man. A lot of the weight he had gained around his midsection was beginning to turn into firm muscle, and Ron had to admit that he was quickly catching up with the rest of them. Ginny and he were next up on the list as far as tiredness went, the first two weeks had been the worst, but they were starting to get the hang of it. The Weasley addiction to the game of Quidditch was beginning to get them back in shape.
Surprisingly to him at least, Luna and Colin were keeping up with Harry and Hermione now, at least at the onset of physical training. Colin insisted it was from years of dodging bullies in school that he had become naturally fast, while Luna confessed that she often went on morning jogs when her father was away on business.
His eyes glanced over towards Luna, who was just finishing up her final lap around the indoor track. He felt his face flush a little as she sat down next to him, grabbing an offered bottle of water from Dobby. "You can stop staring Ronald. I know there's no Bleeblesprouts that have taken over your mind." Ron lowered his head and began muttering to himself.
"Um…err…well that is…say Harry, what's the next stage of the training after this?" he asked, suddenly eager to change the subject. Harry turned and looked at him, having finished his run long ago. He arched an eyebrow at his best friend's sudden blushed appearance, but said nothing about it.
"After we finish the crash course in body work, we'll start on spell training and mix in some basic training in the martial arts. Apparently one of my ancestors studied in the far east, so you guys will learn some basics."
"Martial arts?" Ron questioned, turning towards Hermione for clarification.
"It's muggle fighting techniques from East Asia." She explained, taking a sip of her water. "Harry's great-uncle apparently knew mostly kempo and some jujitsu."
"Bless you," Ginny remarked, as she walked over closer to her friends after finishing her final lap, Colin and Neville not far behind. Harry snickered, and Hermione slapped him on the arm. "Did I miss something?"
"No..just an inside joke," Hermione explained, glaring at Harry who offered the most innocent look he could. Her glare melted away to a smile as she turned to the group. "Let's get back to work on spell techniques."
"Let's take a break first," Ron whined, leaning back on the couch, "I don't think I could levitate a feather right now."
"It's not all bad Ron," Neville said with a cheery disposition. His face then took on a wry grin, though I do want to know why our hosts haven't exercised as much as we have this past month.
"Simple," Luna said matter of factly as she blankly stared at the wall, "They get most of their exercise at night." Hermione's face went crimson, and Harry wanted to bury himself in the ground at the moment.
"OI!" Ron yelled at Luna, "I do not want to know about my best friends' sex life!" He shuddered at the thought, while Ginny walked away and remarked over her shoulder.
"I never would have guessed Hermione was a screamer," Ron nearly choked on his water, as did Colin, while Hermione made tomatoes jealous with her coloring. Neville chuckled into his arm, while Harry thought of rather ingenious ways to hex Ginny to Hades and back.
"Well," Colin said, clearing his throat, "Why don't we get back to work and get everyone's minds off of this?" Harry nodded his head in affirmation, and Hermione never looked so eager to begin a lesson.
/ - / - / - /
Arthur Weasley moved about his office that morning, cleaning up a few files, reorganizing his filing cabinets, taking a few enchanted objects down to processing for proper disposal. But as he now sat in his immaculate office, his files neatly stacked next to him and all of his bins of trash emptied, one prevailing thought that had been running its course through his mind once again came to the forefront.
He was alone.
He had tried to ignore this fact since Molly's funeral, but it was becoming harder and harder to ignore. With his youngest two's disappearance for a day (though he knew it to be far longer than that) especially, the fact was becoming harder to ignore. Frustrated a bit, he stood up and took leave of his office, informing his higher ups that he'd be taking the rest of the day off to deal with personal matters. In a time like this, Arthur decided, there was little else to do but set aside a table at the Leaky Cauldron and get plastered.
He was on his way to the lift that would take him to the Ministry atrium, when he heard someone clear his throat from behind him. He turned, and his face became neutral the moment he saw his son Percy standing there, staring at him.
"Hello father," Percy said in an even tone, pushing his glasses up his nose.
"Son," Arthur returned in a similar fashion. Both of them stood there for a moment longer, the ice between them beginning to thicken. "Care to share a lift? I was just leaving for the day." Percy said nothing, but merely nodded. The two of them then walked to the gold lift, Percy slamming the door shut behind them.
They rode in silence for a few moments, before Arthur heard his son given a heavy sigh. Turning towards him, he saw Percy's head pointed straight towards the floor of the lift. "Did you ever feel like you've made yourself out to be a right foul git? Did you ever wake up one morning and look at yourself in the mirror, and not like what you saw staring back at you?" Arthur arched an eyebrow at his son's questions, but was honestly not surprised. To the Weasleys, family above all else mattered.
"Yes, on a few occasions," Arthur replied, staring out as the Ministry atrium came into view. "And on more than a few occasions I've had my head chewed off when Merlin knows I've deserved twice as bad as what I got." He finally turned and smiled at his son, "But in the end family forgives family, regardless of everything." Percy glanced up at him, and offered him a half-hearted smile.
"Join me for lunch?" he asked, "I have some things I need to discuss with you about how best to help Potter."
Arthur looked a bit taken aback, "How do you know what he's up to?"
"I don't…know everything that is…but it's clear something has happened. Maybe if I knew I could help you somehow, or we could position ourselves to be in a better position to help him." Arthur thought about it for just a moment, before an even wider smile crossed his face.
"Very well," he replied, motioning for Percy to exit the lift as it came to a screeching halt in the Atrium of the Ministry. The two then walked side by side towards the exit from the Ministry building. Amidst all the hustle and bustle of the Ministry's comings and goings, neither one noticed Malcolm Greengrass standing near the Fountain of Magical Brethren, smiling as he watched them leave together.
/ - / - / - /
Three and a Half Months into Training
Ron Weasley was having trouble sleeping. For some reason a nagging feeling at the back of his head kept telling him to wake up and explore this house a bit more, if only to get a walk in. He wasn't sure why this was the case, but he had the unconscious urge telling him something wasn't quite right.
He grumbled to himself as he threw off his covers for the third time that night and crawled out of bed. If he could ever find his way to the blasted kitchen, he surmised, maybe he could get a glass of warm milk and something to eat that would help him doze off. He slowly opened his door, careful not to wake anyone, and waved his wand outward, muttering out loud "Lumos." A bright light shone down the hallway, and he began making his way towards the kitchen. He took a look out at a couple of windows and smirked at the spell work that Harry & Hermione had provided, creating a false skyline complete with night and day for the duration of the time warp so as to allow them to be able to sleep more regularly.
As he walked down the hallway, the open door to the library caught his attention. Slowly, he moved a bit closer and peered in, curiously checking to see if someone had just left it open. At first he didn't find anything, simply empty couches and tables with a few books scattered about. He was about to leave, when he caught a faint glow coming from below on the bottom floor of the library. He silently moved his wand forward a bit over the edge of the scaffold and peered downward.
"I heard you come in," came an ethereal voice from below, and Ron let out a small sigh of relief at seeing Luna lying on the couch, curled up in the corner, reading a book and idly cradling her pendant which was still emitting a small glow in the simulated moonlight. Ron walked down the spiral staircase to the first floor of the library and sat down next to Luna, extinguishing his wand as he did so. He looked over Luna, his throat going very dry at the sight of her in a silver nightgown with her pale blonde hair framing her almost angelic face. Idly, his eyes wandered downwards, stopping on the necklace that she kept in her left hand.
"Why does it do that?" he asked, realizing he had never really thought about it before. Luna looked down and let out a small sigh, setting down the book in front of her.
"I don't know," she confessed, removing the chain from her neck and setting it down on the couch in front of her, staring at it for a long time. "It was my mother's. She gave it to me before she died. All she ever told me about it was that it would protect me." Ron continued looking at the pendant for a while, before she added, "It's actually not glowing as much as it did when we first got here, and it varies in intensity." Ron nodded, and stared out the window, enjoying Luna's company for a while, before turning back at her.
"So, couldn't sleep?" he asked, and she silently nodded, closing her eyes. Ron dared to move a bit closer, and glanced down at the book she had been reading, "The Annals of Merlin? Find something interesting in here?" Luna turned and looked at the book without blinking, before turning back at the window.
"Just some things I needed to research," she answered back, trying not to give it any importance. Ron felt that innate sense that something wasn't quite right here. Luna had acted a bit more moody, even for her, trying her best to mask it with tales of fanciful creatures and other such things in ways that had not gone unnoticed by Ron.
"Is something bothering you?" he asked innocently enough, as if he were trying to deduce the reason for her not sleeping. She offered a miniscule wince at the question, but quickly masked it.
"It isn't anything you need to worry about Ron," she said honestly, standing up from the couch, moving to leave the room.
"Please," Ron hastily answered back, stopping her by grabbing her wrist. "Luna let me help you please." She hesitated for a long while, staring deep into his blue eyes, looking for…something…and Ron felt the beginning tendrils of legilimency beginning to creep forward. He immediately slammed his occulumency shields down at full bore and felt his temper flare up slightly, not noticing the more intense glow coming from in front of him for the briefest of moments. "What's the big idea," he angrily yelled, and Luna turned away from him, tears in her eyes.
"I'm sorry its just…" Ron felt his anger subside and he walked after Luna, waiting for her to calm down a bit.
"Hey, I'm sorry I yelled alright. Don't go all teary eyed on me." Luna let out a half chuckle and turned towards him. They stood there for a brief moment, when in a fit of courage Luna leaned forward and kissed him on the lips. Ron was surprised initially, but did not fight back against her, eventually feeling his body lighten under the intense pressure. Just as quickly as it had arrived, the fleeting courage of Luna ebbed, and she pulled back, leaving a dumbstruck Ron where he was standing.
"I…umm…I'm sorry I did that," she said, blushing furiously, the crimson in her cheeks a stark contrast to her pale skin and her eyes glossing back in forth from their normal dream-like state. Ron felt heat rising to his cheeks as he rubbed the back of his head, uncertain of what to say next.
"I'm not," he blurted out, realizing what he'd just said a moment later and turning an even deeper shade of red. The two of them nervously chuckled, and sat back down on the couch, neither one saying much of anything. Luna finally took a deep sigh and changed the subject a bit.
"I'm afraid of something that I have to tell Harry," she confessed. "It's something that my father asked me to do, and I'm afraid Harry will think I betrayed him if I tell him." Ron nodded his head, uncertain of where she was going. "I never really had friends before you guys accepted me, despite my eccentricities. Oh sure I had a few friends, Ginny sort of was my friend, but I never had any close friends to speak of. And…I don't want to lose you guys."
Ron nodded again and leaned forward, folding his hands and staring directly at her. "My family manipulated Harry for most of the time he was in Hogwarts. Unknowingly Dumbledore maneuvered us into becoming his friend, trying to pair him off with Ginny. If things hadn't changed and my mum hadn't….there was a good chance that she would have tried to use a love potion on him this year to get Gin and Harry together. She might have tried it with me and Hermione too. I told Harry all of this and you know what…he forgave me and my whole family. Harry's an understanding bloke, I'm sure if you come clean with him…he'll understand."
Luna shook her head stubbornly. "This is different; this is something I knew about going in. I wasn't manipulated like Dumbledore manipulated you and your family." She took a deep breath and stared straight at Ron. "I'm a junior operative for the Unspeakables. My father is and my mother was a full-fledged Unspeakable. He asked me to give up the location of Potter Manor when I get back."
Ron tilted his head and stared Luna directly in the eyes. "And do you intend to?" Luna shook her head, causing Ron to smile at her. "Then there's no problem! You haven't done anything Luna. Just by being a member of these Unspeakable thingies, you aren't breaking any laws." He got a bit more serious for a moment before he dared to ask, "What do they want with Harry anyway?"
"I don't know, but my father keeps saying something about the Heir of Merlin. Lazarus, their leader, came to me when Harry had disappeared and asked me if I knew where they went. I didn't at the time, and he told me to just keep my eyes open." She let out a brief sigh and lowered her head. Ron tilted it upwards, staring directly at her.
"Tell Harry all this and I'm sure he'll understand. Hell, I'm more impulsive then he is, and I already forgive you." They both chuckled stood to get up.
"I should be getting back to bed," she said, yawning slightly. Ron nodded and started to head back for his own room. They were a part for a moment before Luna called back to him.
"By the way," she said hesitantly, slightly blushing again, "I didn't mean what I said…about being sorry for kissing you. I…umm…actually enjoyed it a bit." Ron felt his cheeks turn pink a bit, as he smiled back at her.
"So did I."
/ - / - / - /
Lazarus sat in his office, unconcerned with the goings on in the outside world at the moment. Some things weren't exactly going as well as he had hoped, but in a day or so, he was certain things would move at a reasonable pace. Idly he reached out and touched a small silver crow on his desk, causing a bird to come flying from the rafters and land on his desk. He handed it a piece of parchment, and the crow promptly flew off towards Gringotts Bank. He sat for a moment, taking a sip of his flask before a small bell at the side of his desk tolled. He glanced up at the door, his yellow eyes twinkling madly in the dim light, and stared at it for several seconds before it swung open and a squad of aurors poured into his office, followed by Cornelius Fudge and Delores Umbridge. "Minister," the elder wizard politely said, standing up and hobbling his way over to in front of his desk. "To what do I owe this pleasure?"
"I'm afraid the war, Lazarus," Fudge said with impunity, "There are several artifacts in this office that could help the effort against You-Know-Who. You're being ordered to vacate the premises while my aurors search the grounds."
Lazarus cocked an eyebrow, "Surely you remember Cornelius, that the Department of Mysteries is autonomous from the rest of the Ministry, even in times of war. Feel free to examine some of our artifacts in the other rooms, but in this office, I'm afraid I must refuse you."
"Do you know who you are talking too?" Umbridge shouted at the top of her lungs, stepping forward towards Lazarus in front of the aurors. "Now stand aside old man before we arrest you for treason!"
Lazarus simply chuckled, "I must say Delores, though I have seen you exhibit cunning and intelligence before, as well as your own twisted sense of loyalty to the Minister, bravery has never been something very becoming of you. I'm sure your ex-Gryffindor students would be proud." Umbridge grew even angrier at the commented and pulled her wand out from her sleeve.
"Allow me to deal with this traitor sir!" she offered, but stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Lazarus stand a bit taller, his eyes glowing more brightly than they had just moments before.
"Sad way your teaching career ended Delores. I heard they were none too happy with some of the things you said." Umbridge felt fear crawl into the back of her throat as ghostly images began to envelope around Lazarus. Slowly they took a more defined shape, taking the form of five or six centaurs flanking the head of the Unspeakables.
"Stay back!" she shouted, walking backwards at a quickened pace, "Stay back you dirty beasts!" Lazarus merely smirked and motioned with his head, causing the apparitions to go charging after Delores, who was overcome with fear at the hallucinations. She ran past the minister and out of the room, down the hallway, forever convinced she was being pursued. Fudge turned and glared at Lazarus, who merely stood their in an unassuming fashion.
"What did you do to her?!" he demanded to know. After hearing Lazarus chuckle a bit, he yelled at the four aurors standing next to him. "Arrest him!" After a few moments hesitation, the aurors summoned their courage and moved forward, their wands drawn at Lazarus.
"I warn you," he said in an even tone, "I do not treat those who flock to the Ministry's shepherd mindlessly well. Think about what you are doing." The four aurors paid no attention to these words however, as they each fired a stunner at the older man, who with a wave of his hand caused them to disperse into nothingness. The four aurors stared in disbelief, as Lazarus slowly lifted his staff, and banged it down on the ground, causing a wave of magic to spread across the floor. The aurors all motioned to attack him again, but were quickly overcome with horrific pain. The Minister watched on in terror as the four aurors were slowly transformed before his eyes, both mentally and physically, into nothing more than common variety sheep. After ten grueling minutes of the process, they all moved about the office without a care in the world, before quickly vanishing into thin air. The Minister stared up at Lazarus, who glared at him.
"You're little attempt at a takeover has failed Cornelius, much to your chagrin, for soon I will have a new minister who will not interfere with my affairs." He closed his eyes, before smiling and adding, "I suppose you can take solace in the fact that you won't remember a thing about it." Fudge was just about to object, when he felt a pinprick at the back of his mind, and faced a great flash of light. After a moment's disorientation, he looked at Lazarus, who had a chipper look on his face.
"I'll send those budget requests to you tomorrow Minister, thank you for coming by. It's so rare I get visitors." Fudge nodded his head and turned to leave, still befuddled as to why he had gone to the Department of Mysteries in the first place.
A/N: More Arthur/Percy, training including dealing with Colin and Ginny & a burgeoning Ron/Luna relationship as well…and a reappearance by Caliban and Voldemort's inner circle.