Chapter 93: Infiltration
Disclaimer:
Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
I own only the original characters I create.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 93: Infiltration
They found a telephone booth standing in a forgotten corner of London, its red paint faded and peeling, and its windows cracked and grimy.
It looked inconspicuous to Muggles, but any wizard could perceive the magic hidden beneath the surface.
This phone booth was one of the many entrances to the Ministry of Magic and the one they chose to use because of how isolated it was.
Harry stood before it, his heart pounding, his wand concealed in his holster.
Beside him, Bellatrix Lestrange surveyed the street with calculating eyes. Behind them, the Carrow twins, Alecto and Amycus, whispered to each other in urgent tones, their fingers tracing runes in the air.
Rabastan Lestrange stood guard, his wand drawn, his expression tense.
And beside him, Fenrir Greyback crouched low, his yellow eyes gleaming in the dimming light of the late afternoon.
"Is this going to take long?" Fenrir asked.
"Shh!. Dont hurry us." Alecto Carrow shifted her eyes to the werewolf. "You think it's easy to activate this thing without alerting the entire Ministry of our arrival?. Just shut up and let me and my brother work."
"We go in together," Tom Riddle said, his voice calm and commanding. "The booth will take us to the Atrium. From there, we split into two teams. Bellatrix, you take Harry and the others to the Re-Education Center. I will take Alecto and Fenrir to the Wizengamot."
Harry nodded, his throat dry. He had been preparing for this moment for weeks, but now that it was here, he felt the familiar knot of fear in his stomach.
"Remember," Tom continued, "we have one hour. After that, the Ministry's security will reset, and we will be trapped. Do not waste a second."
"Okay, it's done." Amycus Carrow said. "We can activate the booth now. And no one will detect it. But once inside, we will need to be careful not to be spotted."
Bellatrix stepped forward and opened the door of the telephone booth. "Let's go."
They crammed into the booth, the metal walls pressing in around them.
Tom reached for the dial and spun it in a complex sequence: six, two, four, four, two, six, seven.
The booth shuddered. The floor dropped beneath them.
Harry grabbed the wall, his stomach lurching as they descended into darkness.
The booth rattled and shook, picking up speed, and then...they landed with a soft thud.
The door slid open, revealing the Ministry Atrium.
It was vast and grand, exactly as Harry remembered it from the stories. The dark wooden floor gleamed under the light of floating golden orbs.
The Fountain of Magical Brethren stood in the center, its statues of a wizard, a witch, a centaur, a goblin, and a house-elf frozen in poses of noble sacrifice. The walls were lined with golden fireplaces, each one connected to the Floo Network.
But the Atrium was not empty.
Aurors patrolled the perimeter; their dark robes were a stark contrast against the golden light.
A few Ministry officials hurried past, their heads down, clutching stacks of parchment. And at the far end of the hall, a massive golden statue of Albus Dumbledore dominated the space, his stone eyes watching over everything.
Harry felt a chill run down his spine. Dumbledore's face was everywhere.
"Stay close," Bellatrix whispered. "We move quickly and quietly. No unnecessary risks."
She led them through a side corridor, away from the main Atrium.
Tom and his team split off at the first junction, disappearing down a corridor that led to the Wizengamot chambers. Harry watched them go, knowing how difficult their mission was and hoping that they would succeed.
'Be careful,' he thought.
Then he turned and followed Bellatrix into the depths of the Ministry.
Amycus Carrow and Rabastan had become part of their team, while the rest went with Tom Riddle.
The four of them also had a difficult mission. To infiltrate the Re-Education Center, locate Pansy Parkinson, and rescue her.
The lower floors were darker, colder, and more oppressive, if that was possible.
The walls were made of rough stone, and the torches that lined them burned with a sickly green flame.
Harry kept his wand in his hand, his senses on high alert.
"Where is the Re-Education Center?" he whispered.
"Lower levels," Bellatrix replied. "Near the bottom. It's one of the most secure areas in the Ministry. Only authorised personnel are allowed inside."
"You said you had a plan to access it," Harry said.
"I do," Bellatrix agreed. " We are not authorized yet, but we will be."
She guided them to a small, unused office near the entrance to the lower levels. The door was locked, but Amycus Carrow pressed his hand against the wood and whispered a single word.
The lock clicked open.
Inside, the office was dusty and abandoned. A desk sat in the corner, covered in old parchment. A single window looked out onto a dark corridor.
"We wait here," Bellatrix said. "The guards will change shifts in ten minutes. When they do, we'll take two of them."
Harry nodded, his heart pounding. He didn't like the idea of attacking innocent people, but he knew it was necessary. They needed to get inside the facility.
The guards were passing by just ten minutes later, exactly as Bellatrix had predicted.
Two of them, a man and a woman, walked down the corridor with their wands holstered and stern expressions. They could not have predicted an attack at the end of their shift.
Bellatrix moved like a hurricane.
"Stupefy!"
She took one of them down in just a second.
The man crumpled to the ground before he could react.
The woman spun around, her wand raised, but Rabastan was already behind her. A quick Stunning Spell, and she joined her colleague on the floor.
"Quickly, get them inside and close the door," Bellatrix said, pulling out two small vials of Polyjuice Potion.
"We need their hair."
Harry knelt beside the man, his hands trembling. He plucked a strand of hair from his head and dropped it into one of the vials. Bellatrix did the same with the woman.
The potion bubbled and hissed, turning a sickly brown. Harry gagged at the smell...it was like rotten eggs and old socks.
"Drink," Bellatrix said. "We don't have long before the other guards notice their absence."
Harry uncorked the vial and swallowed the potion in one gulp. The taste was worse than the smell...it was like drinking liquid filth. His entire body convulsed, and he felt his bones shift, his skin crawl, his features melt and reform.
When the transformation was complete, he looked down at himself. He was taller, broader. His hands were larger, his face unfamiliar.
"Take the guard's robes and throw them over yours," Bellatrix instructed him as she did the same thing.
Bellatrix had transformed into the female guard. She looked at him with the guard's cold, bored eyes.
"Remember your cover," she said. "We are authorised personnel. We belong here. Try to avoid attracting attention to yourself and speak no more than the bare minimum."
Harry nodded, his throat tight.
"Rabastan, Amycus," Bellatrix continued, "You two will stay here. Keep the guards hidden. If anyone comes, deal with them quietly."
Rabastan nodded. "Be careful."
Bellatrix turned to Harry. "Let's go."
The Re-Education Center was located on the lowest level of the Ministry, accessible only through a series of heavily warded doors.
Bellatrix, in her guard's disguise, swiped her stolen badge against each ward. The doors opened, one by one, revealing a long, dark corridor that descended deeper into the earth.
Harry followed her, his heart pounding. The air grew colder, heavier, thick with the smell of fear and despair.
And then they reached the main chamber.
Harry stopped dead.
"This is it..." Bellatrix muttered under her breath. "The Re-Education Center."
The room was vast, filled with rows of small, barred cells. Inside each cell was a child...some as young as five, others as old as fifteen.
They all looked pale, thin, and hollow-eyed. Some sat in silence, staring at the walls. Others wept quietly. A few screamed, their voices raw with pain.
In some of the cells were Ministry Officials. They they appear to be casting spells on the children as these ones tried to complain or resist.
Memory Charms, Compulsion Charms, curses that Harry didn't recognise. They forced potions down their throats. They punished those who resisted with Cruciatus Curses that left the children twitching and sobbing on the floor.
Harry felt bile rise in his throat. He wanted to scream at them. He wanted to attack those monsters and stop them from hurting the children. He wanted to burn this place to the ground.
But he couldn't. Not yet, at least.
"Keep moving," Bellatrix whispered, her voice tight with barely contained rage. "We can't help everyone right now. We need to find Pansy first."
Harry nodded, though every fibre of his being screamed in protest. He forced himself to walk forward, past the cells, past the screaming, past the horror.
'I'll come back for you,' he promised the children. 'I'll save you all.'
They found Pansy's cell at the far end of the chamber.
It was larger than the others, with thicker bars and heavier wards.
Two guards stood outside, their hands immediately moved to their wands the moment they saw them approach.
"State your business," one of them demanded.
Bellatrix stepped forward; her stolen face remained calm and authoritative. "We're here to transfer the prisoner to a higher-security facility. Orders from the Headmaster himself."
"Transfer her?" The guard frowned. "I wasn't informed of any transfer."
"It's a last-minute decision," Bellatrix said smoothly. "You can check with your superior if you like. But I should warn you...the Headmaster does not appreciate delays."
The guard hesitated. Then he nodded. "Fine. But I'll need to see your authorisation."
Bellatrix reached into her robes...
But just then, at the worst moment, Harry's Polyjuice Potion began to fail.
She felt his skin crawl, his bones shift. His face melted and reformed, returning to his own features. The guard's eyes widened.
"What the-"
"Stupefy!" Bellatrix's spell struck him in the chest.
Harry spun and hit the second guard with a Petrificus Totalus before he could raise his wand.
Both guards crumpled to the ground.
"Shit...we ran out of time," Bellatrix said, her voice urgent. "My potion won't last much longer either. We need to move." She glanced back. They were lucky that this cell was more isolated than the rest, and no one had heard the commotion.
Harry looked down at himself. His potion had worn out completely, and he could see his real face being reflected in a nearby glass.
"Hurry," Bella said with urgency. "Let's get her and get out of here before they see us."
Harry turned to the cell.
Pansy was sitting on a small, hard chair, staring at the wall. Her dark hair was tangled and dull. Her face was pale, gaunt, hollow. Her eyes...once so bright and fierce, were now empty and lifeless.
"Pansy," Harry called out, his voice cracking. "Pansy, it's me. Harry. I came to get you."
She didn't respond.
He gripped the bars of the cell, his heart pounding. "Pansy, please. Look at me."
Slowly, she turned her head. Her eyes met his...dull, confused, lost. And then she spoke.
"Who are you?" she asked.
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