Victrola [D.M + H.G]

Welcome to Victrola

"Do you realize what you're asking of me!" Hermione's eyes widened as she looked over the stack of papers dumped onto her desk

Leonidas stared at her, it was evident that work had drained the man's eyes but his posture remained stern as ever. Still holding an eerie stillness as he addressed her. "Miss Granger, no one said this would be easy"

"I think we are past formalities," she said, scanning the file in her hands. He only shook his head, as his cane tapped the side of her chair, indicating that she should sit down for what he was about to explain next, the mission which would have Hermione Granger not only step out of her comfort zone but destroy any boundaries that she had previously set for herself.

She knew the work she would be getting into was not for the faint of heart. But after all those years in Hogwarts and winning the war with Harry and Ron, she had to focus her need for puzzles, solving crimes and justice into some other forms of work to keep herself busy. So she took up a ministry job at the department of mysteries. However, Hermione excelled as she always did, finding the work too easy. She needed more, a goldmine of problems to solve, unjust systems to bring down. She needed to train her mind and feel the exhilaration of escaping death again, for the right reasons of course. It was a high that flamed her body, when she would be at her lowest, it distracted her from her mind, which never seemed to stop working. Leonidas, her boss, had noticed this trait in Hermione early on, an overachiever, silently begging for a job that would finally challenge her.

It had taken him some time to apply and get a Ministry-approved stamp to promote Hermione. But it wasn't any ordinary promotion, an unbreakable vow was formed before she learned the truth of the Ministry, the dark side they would hide from the rest of the departments. As everyone had known so far there were only seven departments in the Ministry of Magic, The Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes, Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, Department of International Magical Cooperation, Department of Magical Transportation, Department of Magical Games and Sports and finally the Department of Mysteries. Yet like all best-kept secrets, there was an eighth department that only a few select individuals knew about. It fell under the head of the Department of Mystery's jurisdiction, Leonidas, Who would hire Britain's most trained and secretive individuals to perform work that most people wouldn't dare dream of. Most of the work involved was investigating and preventing acts of domestic and international terrorism, attacks involved with corruption and spells of mass destruction to bring down everything the Wizarding world had worked towards. It was crucial that an army of Death Eaters didn't form alliances again or any other smaller groups for that matter. Europe still reeked of extremists and muggle hate groups that merged in secret. The enemies who remained hidden amongst the good, disguised as sheep in wolves' skin.

It was their job to spot these "sheep" and stop the affairs, dismantle them from the inside without exposing their department to the public eye. They didn't have an exact legal or ethical way of doing these things.

Leonidas and Hermione sat on opposite sides of her desk, in the private office she used. Currently, her work was running late, after hours but she didn't mind, all she had was Crookshanks to keep her company at home. The cat was probably cuddled up on the settee, taking a nap with her fluffy throw blankets. Her home sounded warm, she may not be with anyone at the moment but she wasn't unhappy, she had her work to keep her busy.

"You would need to go undercover, but polyjuice potion or any other face or body altering spells would be detected immediately upon arrival, the only entry we can guarantee for you is-"

"Do not say it" Hermione interrupted him through clenched teeth.

She had seen horrors working this job, people being tortured. Spells and bombs which had almost killed her and everyone she loved, threats sent to her doorstep. The work was costly but the adrenaline she felt after was worth it all. But this next task was different from anything else she was required to do before.