Wand-Leader & The Spy

21- Confessions

London, Ministry of Magic, September 11th, 1999, 14.30 hours

Wand-Leader Hermione was taken aback by the destruction she saw inside the Department of Mysteries. To think Ron and the others had willingly entered the department while this acid wave had filled it… she shuddered.

Dean glanced at her, raising his eyebrows. She schooled her features. "Imagine if this flood hadn't been stopped, and had filled the Ministry."

That made her friend wince. "Stupid Unspeakables, messing with things they can't control."

"We don't know if that's what happened," Hermione corrected him automatically. "It could have been sabotage, or an attack from the outside. Although the latter seems a bit far-fetched," she added. "Alright, let's get to work. We need to know if that half-naga was involved."

Colin was already taking pictures everywhere, but those wouldn't show magical residue. Dean sighed. The Wand wasn't looking forward to covering the entire department with detection spells. Neither was Hermione. Especially since she already knew that they wouldn't find anything linking this to the attacks on the Malfoy, Nott and Lovegood families.

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"What did your team find?"

Wand-Leader Benjamin was five years older than Hermione, and his tone showed just a slight hint of condescension towards the youngest Wand-Leader in the Investigative Corps. Both were standing in one of the laboratories of the Department of Mysteries.

Hermione stood at attention, not showing how tired she was after four hours of casting spell after spell. "We didn't find anything that would link this to the half-naga. Though the office of the Head Unspeakable has been cleared of any residue. Including the corpse found there. But there were signs that the body found inside had been suffering from exposure to the acid, though the effect had stopped before the witch had died. It could have happened at the same time the whole mass went inert, but I'm recommending a closer analysis of the body's robe."

Benjamin nodded. "We've tracked the origin of this wave to an Ottoman artifact, which was delivered to the department just two days ago." He pointed at the center of the room, where a misshapen lump of metal was sitting. "That's all that's left. Apparently it was a research project that the Head had given priority. There was an outside expert involved, who vanished a few days ago."

"And Rookwood is missing?" Hermione narrowed her eyes. "His office is purged, the outside contact missing, a dead Unspeakable in his office…"

"We have a lot of questions for him," the older Wand-Leader said.

"But we have to find him first," Hermione added. She didn't sound smug, but Benjamin still frowned.

"Let's hope he can't hide as well as that half-naga."

Hermione didn't react to that barb, but she nodded rather stiffly before she turned to leave. Even though she knew about the truth behind the 'half-naga', the comment hurt her pride.

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"We're back to hunting snakes then," Dean summed up the day a bit later back in their own office.