The Other Black - Book 7

Chapter 11 - The Muggle-Born Registration Commision

"Ah, Mafalda!" said Umbridge, looking at Hermione. "Travers sent you, did he?"

"Y-yes," squeaked Hermione.

"Good, you'll do perfectly well." Umbridge spoke to the wizard in black and gold. "That's that problem solved. Minister, if Mafalda can be spared for record-keeping we shall be able to start straightaway." She consulted her clipboard. "Ten people today and one of them the wife of a Ministry employee! Tut, tut... even here, in the heart of the Ministry!"

She stepped into the lift besides Hermione, as did the two wizards who had been listening to Umbridge's conversation with the Minister.

"We'll go straight down, Mafalda, you'll find everything you need in the courtroom. Good morning, Albert, aren't you getting out?"

"Yes, of course," said Harry in Albert Runcorn's deep voice. Harry and Aurora stepped out of the lift. The golden grilles clanged shut behind him. Glancing over his shoulder, Harry saw Hermione's anxious face sinking back out of sight, a tall wizard on either side of her, Umbridge's velvet hair-bow level with her shoulder.

"What brings you here, Runcorn?" asked the new Minister of Magic. His long black hair and beard were streaked with silver and a great overhanging forehead shadowed his glinting eyes, putting Harry in the mind of a crab looking out from beneath a rock.

"Needed a quick word with," Harry hesitated for a fraction of a second, "Arthur Weasley. Someone said he was up on level one."

"Ah," said Plum Thicknesse. "Has he been caught having contact with an Undesirable?"

"No," said Harry, his throat dry. "No, nothing like that."

"Ah, well. It's only a matter of time," said Thicknesse. "If you ask me, the blood traitors are as bad as the Mudbloods. Good day, Runcorn."

"Good day, Minister."

Aurora watched Thicknesse march away along the thickly carpeted corridor. The moment the Minister had passed out of sight, Harry tugged the Invisibility Cloak out from under his heavy black cloak, threw it over himself, and (with a visible motion to Aurora) set off along the corridor in the opposite direction.

"I'm going to go help Ron," Aurora said quietly.

"Then go quickly."

Aurora turned on her heel and ran, dragging her foot slightly to let Harry know what way she was heading. She felt panic pulsing in the pit of her stomach. As she passed gleaming wooden door after gleaming wooden door, on her way back up to Yaxley's office, each bearing a small plaque with the owner's name and occupation upon it, the might of the Ministry, its complexity, its impenetrability, seemed to force itself upon her so that the plan she had been carefully concocting with Ron, Harry, and Hermione over the past four weeks seemed laughably childish. They had concentrated all their efforts on getting inside without being detected: They had not given a moment's thought to what they would do if they were forced to separate. Now Hermione was stuck in court proceedings, which would undoubtedly last hours; Ron was struggling to do magic that Aurora was sure was beyond him, a woman's liberty possibly depending on the outcome, and Aurora running on her own, invisible, to go aid.

She scanned the doors, searching for any with the name 'Yaxley'. She didn't know his first name. She creaked open the door, heard Ron say, "Sorry, it's more difficult than I thought!" then he stared at the door as it closed on its own. "Aura, that you?"

"I figured you could do with some aid," Aurora remarked. "And I needed a place to hide where I could reapply this spell." She tapped her wand to the top of her head and felt the sensation of warm liquid being poured down her head. "I don't know if Disillusionment spells have a length, but I'd rather not chance it. Anyway, let's see..."