Chereads / Imprisoned in the Past / Chapter 6 - Chapter 6: Trials and Assassinations

Chapter 6 - Chapter 6: Trials and Assassinations

N umber Twelve Grimmauld Place, London, 6/26/1982, 13:59

Sirius was in the process of packing his stuff to take over to his flat in Manchester, he had went over there yesterday and cleaned up a bit, tonight he would be spending his first night there since before he went to prison.

Andromeda and Tonks were starting to make a habit of coming by for lunch and were currently in the drawing-room with Bellatrix. Harry was currently seated at the kitchen table waiting to see his godfather off.

"Alright, I'm ready to go," Sirius said walking into the kitchen.

"That's good, I might come by and check out the new place n a few days," Harry said.

"It would be a good way to escape the Black sisters," Sirius agreed as he plopped down in the seat across from him.

"Yeah, I just feel bad you never got a chance to see Narcissa before you left," Harry said with a grin.

"I call it a narrow escape," Sirius said with a grin.

"Not quite cousin," Narcissa said from behind him having just stepped out of the floo.

"Cissa it's good to see you, and this must be your son," Harry said politely noticing the blondtoddler in her arms.

"Yea this is my Draco," Narcissa said fondly before turning to Sirius, " I heard Bella sent you on the retreat."

"She changed into a cobra and chased him through the house," Harry said grinning.

"I don't like snakes Sirius defended," looking at the squirming tot in his cousin's arms.

"Where is Bella?" Narcissa asked turning back to Harry.

"The drawing room with Andromeda and her daughter," Harry said.

"Then I shall excuse myself," Narcissa said before leaving through the door.

"I take it this is a surprise visit?" Sirius asked after making sure Narcissa was out of earshot.

"Yes, she said she would be by soon, I guess today is soon," Harry said with a shrug.

"You're mental for letting all three of them get together in the same house, the marauders made a nuisance of themselves but they never had anything on the Black sisters," Sirius warned.

"Then I might be coming to visit you more often than I expected," Harry said not doubting Sirius' word on this.

"You're more than welcome, but we might need to see about getting you an identity," Sirius said thoughtfully.

"Yeah, I actually need to see somebody about my situation, time travel is not an area I am knowledgeable about," Harry said thoughtfully.

"Who are you going to see?" Sirius asked confused.

"The Frog, head of the chrono department in the D.o.M," Harry answered easily.

"I don't think you should just stroll in the department of mysteries," Sirius warned.

"No shit, I will have to make a house call," Harry said dismissively.

"Good luck, unspeakables are not easy to find," Sirius said.

"I am trained to find people that don't want to be found," Harry said with a shrug.

"Alright, just be careful," Sirius said getting up from his seat.

"I will but the man I am looking for is a researcher, they don't have much interest or skill in fighting," Harry said confidently.

"Good luck then," Sirius said pulling him into a manly hug.

"Yeah good luck with mini-me as well," Harry said with a smirk.

"It'll be fine," Sirius said before stepping into the floo.

Grinning Harry made his way up to the drawing-room to find the three sisters chatting while sipping tea and Tonks playing with a very excited Draco.

'What did I get myself into?' Harry thought as he stepped into the room

Saul Croaker's Flat, Covington, 6/27/1982, 20:32

Tracking down the Frog was laughably easy, Harry just had to sneak into the atrium at the end of the day and tag the man's shoe with a tracking charm as he was heading home.

Getting through the wards around the house undetected was a bit more difficult but not all that hard, he wasn't a curse breaker but had trained extensively in this kind of thing.

Harry was wearing his gray robes with his hood pulled over his head as he opened the door and crept into the home. It didn't take much effort to locate his target who was seated by the fire reading from a thick tome and occasionally jotting down notes on a piece of parchment.

"You never stop working do you?" Harry said as he took a seat making the man jump and look Harry's way.

"Who are you and how did you get in my house?" Croaker demanded.

"You can call me Reaper and I am trained to find people who don't want to be found," Harry said easily.

"You're Spectre VII?" Croaker asked seeing the emblem on Harry's robes and looking very nervous.

"I am or was before I was sent to this time," Harry answered.

"So you were the person who tore Azkaban apart a few weeks ago?" Saul asked comprehension dawning on the man's pallid face.

"Yes, my team and I were captured in a raid and the leader thought it amusing to send me back to an Azkaban that still employed dementors," Harry said with a shrug.

"So what do you want with me?" Croaker demanded.

"Advice, you are the foremost expert on time travel," Harry answered easily.

"Well if you want me to send you back I can't do it, I can barely go backward in time much less forward," Croaker exclaimed.

"I know that moving forward in time is not possible, but that's not the part I'm interested in. What I want to know is how dangerous is it for two versions of a person to be in the same timeline?" Harry asked getting to the point.

"It's not dangerous at all, there is no magical force that will make the copy disappear, and regardless of what the muggle science fiction books say it will not unravel the fabric of time or anything so dramatic, the only risk is one version of a person trying to harm the other. We might exaggerate the dangers a bit when we loan out time turners to prevent people from taking advantage of being able to be two places at once," Croaker explained seriously.

"Interesting, so I can be around my other self without the universe collapsing in on itself?" Harry asked letting out a sigh of relief.

"Yes, as long as the other version of you doesn't recognize you it'll be fine," Croaker answered simply.

"Not a problem, I want to think you for your help with this and to apologize," Harry said genuinely grateful for the man's help.

"Apologize for what,?" Croaker asked curiously.

"Obliviate," Harry said wiping the last fifteen minutes from the man's mind and exiting the room before the man came too.

Harry crept out of the house and made his way back through the wards, this had gone better than he had hoped and the answers he received from the Frog were encouraging.

He had no plans of being a large influence on the younger version of himself but did not want to risk a meeting between the two of them destabilizing the universe or something similar. Now he felt better about visiting his godfather even after he rescued younger Harry from the Dursleys.

He would still see about getting a new identity but after the ritual, the unspeakables performed when they conscripted him his magical identity was just Reaper. So he might just need to arrange something at Gringotts, he could legally claim the Peverell title now so he could probably have the goblins put together an identity around that.

'I'll worry about it later,' Harry thought with a shake of his head as he disapparated back to Grimmauld Place.

Number Twelve Grimmauld Place, London, 6/28/1982, 12:58

Harry was enjoying his lunch reading over the parchment Narcissa had brought for him the day Sirius moved to his flat.

This was Lucius' schedule, the best place Harry could see to get the man would be at the ministry he would just have to figure out how to make it look like an accident.

"Whatcha thinking about?" Bellatrix asked curiously.

"The Malfoy situation," Harry answered mindful of Tonks sitting on his other side listening in.

" Oh, Can Belka help?" She asked hopefully.

"Maybe, I still have to do a bit of research first though," Harry said thoughtfully.

Bellatrix had been anxious for the past couple of days, the upcoming trial was weighing on her nerves and Harry knew she was more worried than she was letting on.

"Hey Harry, do you play Quidditch?" Tonks asked looking up from her lunch.

"I did when I was younger," Harry said.

"So you know how to fly a broom?" Tonks asked hopefully.

"Yep, why?" Harry asked curiously.

"Because dad said he couldn't fly a broom and mum says she's too old to fly so no one will teach me," Tonks complained.

"I could but there is nowhere to fly in London," Harry said.

"If you really want to teach her you can come to our house, we have plenty of room to fly," Andromeda cut in.

"Alright, I haven't flown since we got here," Harry said looking forward to getting out of the house.

"Can I come?" Bellatrix asked hopefully.

"Yes, but you will have to be in your animagus form Ted's at home today," Andromeda explained.

"And you bringing a young handsome man over would be less unsettling to him than his sister-in-law accompanying her boyfriend?" Bellatrix asked with a quirked eyebrow.

"Oh, I didn't think of that," Andromeda said looking conflicted.

"It might be better to wait until after Bella's trial when she is off of house arrest," Harry suggested.

"Yes, otherwise your husband might think you're having an affair with Harry," Bellatrix said with a smirk.

"What's an affair?" Tonks asked curiously.

"Don't worry about it, Nymphadora," Andromeda said before glaring at her sister.

"I will teach you to fly," Harry promised hoping to distract her.

"You promise?" Tonks asked hopefully.

"I promise," Harry said solemnly.

"Thank you, Harry, I was never a very strong flyer and Ted is hopeless at it," Andromeda said gratefully.

"Harry is an amazing flyer, he flew me out of Azkaban," Bellatrix cut in.

"I do alright on a broom," Harry said modestly.

"And he has a great broom," Bella said breathily making Andromeda blush.

"Bellatrix don't be crass," Andromeda admonished.

"You and Narcissa were always such prudes," Bellatrix sighed.

"Nymphadora is very impressionable and I don't want her picking up your bad habits," Andromeda defended.

"Don't call me Nymphadora," Tonks exclaimed.

"How about Nymmie or Dora?" Harry asked innocently.

"No Nymmie sounds like something you would call a baby and Dora is an old lady name," Tonks protested.

"Well, what's your middle name?" Harry asked.

"Vulpecula," Tonks muttered.

Harry actually turned to Andy and asked, " What did the poor girl do to you to deserve that?"

"Blacks always name their children after constellations," Andromeda defended.

"I see," Harry said before turning back to the girl, "Tonks it is," making the girl smile and Andromeda scowl.

The rest of the evening passed by quietly, Andromeda and Tonks left at around four and Harry and Bella ate before turning in early.

"I'm scared Harry," Bellatrix said when the had climbed into bed.

"Of the trial?" Harry asked.

"Yes, what if they send me back to the dementors?" Bellatrix asked worriedly.

"I won't let them do that," Harry promised.

"So you're going to be there?" She asked hopefully.

"Yes, I will go dressed in my work robes no one will say a word about me being there," Harry assured her.

"Thank you," she said before pulling him into a kiss that started slow but soon turned heated. The simple show of affection quickly escalated as Bellatrix's hand slid into the waistband of his boxers and his own lifted her nightgown over her head.

It didn't take long for all of their clothes to be discarded and Harry to be sheathed deep inside of her as they made love at a slow almost torturous pace. Harry was on top of her his hips making long deep strokes, her legs were wrapped around him trying to pull him in as deep as she could, and their lips were attached moaning into each other's mouths.

The closer they both got to their release the more erratic their breathing became their perspiration making their bodies almost shimmer in the flickering candlelight as they both lost themselves in each other.

Bella screamed out as her tunnel tightened around him and her eyes rolled back as she felt a powerful orgasm take her making her see stars, Harry surprised her making her wail out louder as he picked up the pace pounding into her hard and fast extending her orgasm as he chased his own release.

Bellatrix had gone limp underneath him as he powered into over and over again making her scream out until he couldn't hold back any longer and he erupted, Harry groaned as he continued to thrust shooting his seed deep inside her as her tunnel pulsed around him.

Harry stopped moving but stayed there for a minute looking at Bella, her hair was all over the place and her eyes were closed as she took in deep lung fulls of air. Harry leaned down and kissed her forehead, before rolling off of her and laying down beside her breathing heavily.

"That ah was the ah most intense orgasm I have ever had," Bellatrix said panting heavily.

"I can tell, I've never heard you scream like that," Harry said lazily.

"It was really good," Bellatrix said happily rolling over to lay her head on his shoulder and sighing in contentment.

"We'll get through this together I promise," Harry said as he gently ran his fingers through her hair.

Bellatrix never replied, already having fallen asleep.

Number Twelve Grimmauld Place, London, 6/30/1982

The house was in chaos today as it was the day before Bellatrix's trial and Andromeda was coaching her on how things would go tomorrow. Their biggest obstacle would be Augusta Longbottom's voting block, since this trial would be in front of the entire Wizengamot which had around fifty members, not including the chief warlock, they needed at least twenty six votes to clear her of her charges so it really all hung on the neutral faction.

Harry personally hated politics so he let Andromeda take the lead on this but still paid rapt attention to what she had to say.

Narcissa had been contributing to the cause by having tea with of some of the more prominent wives of the neutral block and calling in a bunch of favors to try and assure that Bellatrix would get a not guilty verdict tomorrow.

Harry had spent the last few days trying to time Lucius' movements and come up with a rough plan, he believed he had come up with a workable plan but he still needed to fine-tune it.

The ministry was built over a cave system that the original wizard's council used for meetings around the same time the founders built Hogwarts. This cave system was actually a branch of the very same cave system Gringotts used for the bank and a vertical shaft connected the ministry end of the caves to the Gringotts side.

When the ministry was first built they had to have wizard guards near this shaft as part of the treaty of sixteen forty-seven and the goblins had to have their own guards on their end of the shaft to ensure wizards didn't use this backdoor into Gringotts to rob them.

In eighteen seventy-four when the idea of a lift system was proposed and ultimately accepted the engineers built the lifts over this shaft to seal up the shaft and free up ministry employees.

Now, only two lifts out of seven were suspended over this three hundred and seventy-five foot shaft, they were two closest to the ministry entrance, and also by a happy coincidence the lifts Lucius Malfoy preferred to take on his daily visits with Corneilius Fudge the minister's new undersecretary.

Fudge had just recently clawed his way out of magical accidents and catastrophes and thanks to Lucius' help got the cushy job on level one, which was a hundred and twelve feet above the atrium.

Harry always knew that Fudge was Malfoy's puppet what he hadn't known until he started digging into Lucius' life to fulfill the terms of his deal with Narcissa was that Lucius was actually grooming the man to be the next minister.

Harry figured a four hundred and eighty-seven foot fall counted as an accident he just had to work out the mechanics of how to drop the blond ponce snd how to ensure Lucius didn't have access to his wand during the descent.

Harry was getting close to getting things set up now, though he would have to take a late-night trip to the ministry to set things up.

"What are you thinking about?" Tonks asked curiously looking up from her book.

"Getting Bella a trial so we can go flying," Harry lied easily.

"I asked daddy what an affair was and he wouldn't say, he just told me to go to my room and then him and mum had a row in the sitting room," Tonks said quietly.

"Oh bugger!" Harry exclaimed.

"Language Harry I don't need you teaching her any more swear words," Andromeda admonished from the other side of the room.

Tonks giggled before saying, "daddy says that one a lot."

"And she gets on to me," Harry said dramatically.

"I get onto him when I catch him at it," Andromeda assured him.

"Ah, good you're all gathered I have good news, I have secured the Greengrass' vote and since Jonathan controls the neutral block I do believe we have enough to clear Bellatrix tomorrow," Narcissa said as she entered the drawing-room.

"What's the catch?" Harry asked knowing that this wasn't done out of kindness.

"They want gold, three hundred thousand galleons which I have promised, but I can't transfer that kind of gold until you handle that thing for me," Narcissa explained.

"Alright it will be done directly after Bellatrix's trial,' Harry said after some thought.

"Good, I can't wait for this bad business to be dealt with," Narcissa said taking a seat and sighing tiredly.

"Aunt Cissa where is Draco?" Tonks asked curiously.

"I left him with Roxanne Greengrass and her daughter Daphne," Narcissa said.

Harry felt his stomach twist a bit remembering the bloody way he had killed Daphne Greengrass right before he was sent back, with any luck that would not be necessary this time around.

"Oh," Tonks said before going back to her book.

Ministry of Magic, London, 7/1/1997, 01:37

Harry had to stun and borrow some blue robes from a magical maintenance worker and made his way through the maintenance corridor that went under level eight. It took a bit of searching but he didn't have much trouble finding the lift shafts, all the lifts were resting on the atrium level since the ministry was empty at the moment.

It was very easy to find the two lifts he was looking for because there was a bottomless pit under the last two.

Harry removed the shrunken comet two sixty from his pocket and resized it before mounting the broom and floating out over the pit under the floor of the lift. Taking out his rune etching tools he began meticulously etching in the array he wanted on the front half of the lift, he etched the runes into the floor of the lift, this array would make the metal very brittle and weak as soon as it was activated, once the runes activates they would turn into fracture points completely erasing any evidence of magical involvement.

It took him the better part of two hours to etch the array into both lifts but finally, he was done, taking a powerful, circular magnet an inch in diameter out of his pocket, Harry stuck it over the power rune in the center of the array.

Once Harry placed a magnet on both lifts Harry made his way back to the maintenance wizard and placed the blue robes back on him. His work finished for the night Harry made his way out of the ministry.

Courtroom Ten, Ministry of Magic,7/1/1982, 10:31

Harry was standing along the back wall watching as the Bellatrix's trial took place, Andromeda had presented the case quite well in his opinion. Barty Crouch had been rather milder than he remembered in the memories he saw in Dumbledore's office and had tried to sway the court to have her convicted, he seemed almost distracted through the proceedings.

The fact that Bellatrix claimed to be under the imperius curse hadn't gone down well at first until she proved she wasn't a marked death eater which earned her a lot of favor. Harry wished he had a camera to capture the looks of shock many members of the dark faction wore when she exposed her unmarked forearms for examination.

The Wizengamot had just called a recess to confer with one another before they would call a vote an Harry was gettingreally anxious now.

Harry watched Bellatrix and Andromeda whispering to one another as they waited for the members to return.

He then shifted his gaze to Lucius Malfoy who was sitting on the front row of the gallery, the man didn't have a seat on the Wizengamot but he pulled the strings of the dark faction just as his father had done before him, he was their unofficial leader, his death tomorrow would start a power struggle in the dark faction that would be beneficial to the other two voting blocks for the next few sessions

Harry was getting antsy now he had all the preparations in place he just had to wait patiently for Lucius to step into the trap.

Harry heard a commotion echo out of the private room the Wizengamot members had gone into to deliberate, Harry heard a woman's voice shriek in fury but due to the charms placed on the room, he couldn't make out what she was saying.

It seemed like an eternity later the doors to the room opened and the Wizengamot members filed in and took their seats on the raised platform. When all of the members had taken a seat Dumbledore raised his hand and the gallery went quiet.

"We have heard the evidence in the case of Bellatrix Druella Black and now it is time to call for a vote, all those in favor of conviction please raise your wands," Dumbledore called out to the Wizengamot members.

Harry watched with bated breath as wands raised into the air but there weren't as many as he expected, not all of the light faction raised their wand and Harry guessed that the number voting for conviction was somewhere in the high teens.

Once the court scribe had marked the member's votes down Dumbledore call out, "all those in favor of clearing the accused of all charges please raise your wands."

Harry watched nervously as wand after wand rose into the air and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that over thirty wands were in the air, Bellatrix was free!

Harry did notice the looks she was receiving from Madam Longbottom and knew he would have to watch that situation closely.

"Clearded of all charges, Ms. Black you are free to go,your wand will be returned to you when you leave the chamber, this court is dismissed," Dumbledore called out into the room.

Harry nodded to Bellatrix who looked his way before making his way toward the elevator banks and casting a disillusionment charm on himself, now he just had to wait for his mark to enter the trap.

Number Twelve Grimmauld Place, London, 7/1/1982,11:45

Bellatrix stepped through the floo skipping happily, Andromeda's plan had worked perfectly.

Bellatrix had her doubts and had been a nervous wreck all week but it had worked out exactly as Andromeda said it would.

"Is Mistress Bells hungry?" Kreacher asked from near the stove.

"Yes Kreacher, Andromeda, and her spawn will be joining us shortly as well," Bellatrix told the elf who scowled but nodded making Bella giggle.

"They aren't that bad Kreacher," Bella said taking a seat.

"The pnk one makes big messes," the elf replied.

"Leave them for Harry then, he seems to like the brat," Bellatrix said as a plate of steak and kidney pie appeared in front of her.

"Is master Harry coming for lunch?" Kreacher asked as Andromeda stepped through the floo.

"No he's doing a job for Cissa," Bella said.

"What job is he doing for Cissa?" Andromeda asked warily.

"She is jealous of my status as a widow so Harry is helping her with that," Bellatrix said as a stocky blond man and her pink-haired niece stepped through the floo.

"Oh," Andromeda said in understanding.

"Where is Harry?" Tonks demanded.

"He is doing a job for your aunt Cissa," Andromeda said looking between Ted and Bellatrix warily.

"Don't worry Andy, Harry made me promise to behave," Bellatrix said with a pout.

"Good, this is my husband Ted. Ted this is my older sister Bellatrix," Andromeda said.

"Pleasure," Ted said.

"You as well," Bellatrix said stiffly.

Ministry of Magic Atrium, London, 7/1/1982, 11:57

Harry had been waiting here for almost half an hour when he saw Lucius and Cornelius Fudge walking towards the lifts chatting quietly, Harry darted in behind them when they stepped into lift number one.

Harry palmed the one-inch steel ball-bearing in his pocket, he had asked Bellatrix to enchant it just like the coin that Narcissa had used to remove her mark so that it would store magical energy,he had then drawn the reverse power rune just like he had seen Narcissa do on the surface of the bearing.

Once Harry pushed a decent amount of his magic into it the bearing held enough energy to activate the runic array drawn on the bottom of the lift.

The lift creaked to a halt on level one and Harry put his plan into action, as the lift settled Harry dropped the ball bearing on the floor and watched it roll toward the door before coming to a stop as the magnet on the underside of the lift lined it up with the power rune.

Harry held onto the wall behind him as the power transfer rune sucked the magical energy from the ball bearing, a series of grinding snapping sounds were heard before the floor in the front half of the floor broke off of the lift, Harry flicked his wand summoning the cane out of Lucius' hand as he and fudge fell down the open shaft.

After a minute or so, Harry took the shrunken comet out of his pocket and flew down after them to confirm Lucius' death.

When he reached the bottom of the shaft it was pretty clear they were both dead, there was a formation of stalagmites at the bottom of the shaft that broke their fall, both of them were impaled multiple times and the cave floor was covered in blood and other unmentionable things, the sight was quite ghastly.

Taking his broom back up to the maintenance corridor under level eight Harry was able to make his way back to the atrium and he took the nearest floo back to Grimmauld Place.

Number Twelve Grimmauld Place, London, 7/1/1982, 12:15

Harry stepped into the kitchen to a very awkward meal, he was still under a disillusionment charm so he flipped his hood down before canceling the spell.

Tonks was the first one to notice him and yelled excitedly," Harry, aunt Bella is free now you can teach me to fly!'

"Yep," Harry said taking off his gray robes and taking a seat next to Bellatrix.

"Harry this is my husband Ted,Ted this is Harry Peverell" Andy said when Harry had taken a seat.

"Pleased to meet you Ted," Harry said warmly as a plate of food appeared in front of him.

"You as well Dora talks about you a lot," Ted said smiling at his daughter.

"So how did it go?" Bellatrix asked.

"Narcissa will be quite pleased," Harry said taking a bite from his plate.

"What did you have to do for Aunt Cissa?" Tonks asked curiously.

"I hade to get rid of some rubbish for her," Harry said with a shrug.

"Oh, so when can we go flying?" Tonks demanded.

"That's up to your parents," Harry said looking at Ted and Andromeda questioningly.

"I'll have to see if you can fly," Ted said simply.

"Not a problem," Harry said easily.

"Then how about after lunch?" Ted suggested.

"Alright, does she have a broom?" Harry asked.

"Yes,we got her a training broom for her birthday, I was going to hire someone to teach her but work has been crazy lately," Ted said with a shrug.

"Alright then," Harry said eating a bit faster.

"Will you teach me how to dive?" Tonks asked hopefully.

"Maybe, depends on if you're as clumsy on a broom as you are everywhere else," Harry said with a smirk making Tonks stick out her tongue.

"Harry, don't rile her up, Nymphadora, that is very unladylike," Andromeda said tiredly.

"Yes mum", Harry said in unison with Tonks making Bella snort into her juice.

" Yeah mate we'll get along just fine," Ted said snickering at the look Andy was throwing Harry.

Ministry of Magic, Maintenance shaft, London, 7/1/1982, 17:38

This was a mess Alastor thought as he and a team of Aurors flew down a shaft that all but the upper levels of the government didn't even know existed. The Goblin liaison office had contacted him an hour ago to report that he received word from Gringotts about two dead wizards at the bottom of the ministry shaft.

Alastor had been at a loss as to what they were talking about until he brought the missive to Crouch and his boss had informed him about this shaft that led into Gringotts.

Alastor could see the bottom now, the shaft was lit up by torchlight as no less than a dozen goblins were standing guard over this section of the tunnel. When he got even closer he saw the pulverized and punctured bodies of Lucius Malfoy and who he believed to be Corneilius and a large section of metal cage that looked like part of the lift floor had broken off.

"Wizard, we believe this to be some sort of accident, there are no signs of magic on either of them," A goblin said when Alastor landed on the cave floor.

"What about that piece of the lift?" Moody asked seeing the stretched and broken section of the lift.

"Just the standard featherlight runes etched in, from what we can see this was metal fatigue in the rivets," The goblin said seriously.

"Perfect, now we have to close down all the lifts," Moody said understanding how serious this could be.

"These things are getting ancient boss," Savage spoke up from behind him.

"Stuff a sock in it and bag these two up, we're not supposed to be here," Moody barked and watched as his team got to the messy task of getting the two bodies in body bags.

"We sealed this section of the tunnels off for the next thirty minutes," The lead goblin said.

"Good, as soon as they're ready for transport we'll deal with this on our end," Moody said.

It took his men almost twenty minutes to free Malfoy and Fudge from the stalagmites and start the process of moving them up the shaft.

"Thanks for the help with this, I didn't catch your name," Moody said to the lead goblin.

"Longblade," The Goblin said.

Nodding Moody mounted his broom and kicked off following his Aurors up to the shaft back to the ministry.

'This is going to be a nightmare when it hits the paper,' Moody thought grimly.