𝑈𝑛𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑑 ☾ 𝐷𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑜 𝑀𝑎𝑙𝑓𝑜𝑦

The Ministry ☾ 5-14

☾ Extra long chapter ahead. I recommend reading all at once, but it's your choice. About 5000 words, differing from my usual 1500-2000.

My hair was stark purple and my eyes were wide. The hills and mountains were flying low below us, and the invisible creature I was apparently riding decided it would be a good idea to do some figure-eights. My heart was pounding, but it calmed me to look over and see Harry, Hermione, Ron, Draco, Ginny, Neville, and Luna all soaring alongside me. Luna's idea seemed insane to some of us at first, but Harry assured me that the creatures were there, but they could only be seen by those who had seen death. Harry with his mom, and Luna with hers.

The clouds grew thick and dark with rain, and as we flew through the countryside, thunder cracked all around us. Hermione let out a yelp as her thestral dropped a bit. It came down in a flood, and we were soon utterly soaked from the rain. The water was freezing, and the height did anything but help combat the cold.

I had read about thestrals in one of my favourite books, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, but I had a hard time believing I would ever cross paths with some. It said they were incredibly smart, and could take someone wherever they wished to go upon hearing the location. We quickly put that theory to the test, and arrived in London in remarkably good time. The bright lights of the city cut through the clouds and we tried to remain unseen until we arrived at the Ministry. 

Taking the visitor's entrance, we were soon running down the main walkway. The reflection of our small group was facing us at every turn in the shiny black bricks. Footsteps echoed off of the large arched ceilings.The familiarity from my first Ministry visit came crawling back to me, and I shortly remembered a few things from the tour my father gave me. The elevator chimed as we arrived on level nine. 

"Department of Mysteries" The automated voice called, and we looked to each other before exiting into the dimly lit corridor. A single door awaited at the end of the hallway, and the large, centred golden doorknob stood out against the harsh darkness of the walls.

"This is it." Harry called, making his way toward the door. Hermione and I exchanged a concerned look as I pulled out my wand. I did not trust this place one bit, especially if Voldemort really was here torturing Sirius.

As we opened the door, the creak echoed into the vast room. It was enormous, obviously using an undetectable extension charm to hide the gigantic room. The shelves went on for ages, holding various crystal balls of differing sizes and shapes. These, however, were not like the ones we used in Divination. These crystal balls were cloudy, and the prophecies inside them were shrouded in mist. The tall shelves stretched to the very back of the room, of which we could not see. Igniting my wand, we used the small lights to look around. The prophecies each seemed to glow and whisper as we passed, sticking closely together.

A thundering echo sounded throughout the chamber, and we all whipped our heads toward where the noise came from. Looking back to Harry, he very audibly swallowed. He turned swiftly back to the shelves, and whispered to himself as he counted down the aisles. We followed him, circling with our wands ready to take on any threat thrown our way. It seems, our Dumbledore's Army training would soon pay off. Hopefully.

Harry suddenly stopped, and looked back at us from where he stood. He looked confused, and I felt a thick lump of dread crawling into my stomach.

"He should be here." Harry called, frustrated.

"Harry," Neville interjected, "I-It's got your name on it." I turned to see Neville facing a small prophecy, sitting menacingly on the shelf before us. As Harry drew nearer, it seemed to glow with recognition. He carefully plucked it off of its stand, and it flared brighter at the touch. It began to whisper through the darkness, and my jaw dropped.