| The moment the golden door had closed Hermione said, very fast, "Actually, Harry, I think I'd better go after him, I don't think he knows what he's doing and if he gets caught the whole thing - "
"Level one, Minister of Magic and Support Staff
The golden grilles slid apart again and Hermione gaspedFour people stood before them, two of them deep in conversation: a long-haired wizard wearing magnificent robes of black and gold, and a squat, toadlike witch wearing a velvet bow in her short hair and clutching a clipboard to her chest
\p\C0="Chapter Thirteen: The Muggle-Born Registration Commission"
\bChapter Thirteen
\iThe Muggle-Born Registration Commission\i\b
"Ah, Mafalda!" said Umbridge, looking at Hermione"Travers sent you, did he?"
"Y-yes," squeaked Hermione
"God, you'll do perfectly well Umbridge spoke to the wizard in black and gold"That's that problem solvedMinister, 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\a133 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 courtroomGood morning, Albert, aren't you getting out?"
"Yes, of course," said Harry in Runcorn's deep voice
Harry stepped out of the lifeThe golden grilles clanged shut behind himGlancing 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 MagicHis 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 black balenciaga bag crab looking out from beneath a rock
"Needed a quick word with," Harry hesitated for a fraction of a second, "Arthur WeasleySomeone 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 thatIt's only a matter of time," said Thicknesse"If you ask me, the blood traitors are as bad as the Mudbloods
"Good day, Minister
Harry watched Thicknesse march away along the thickly carpeted corridorThe 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 set off along the corridor in the opposite directionRuncorn was so tall that Harry was forced to stoop to make sure his big feet were hidden
Panic pulsed in the pit of his stomachAs he passed gleaming wooden door after gleaming wooden door, 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 him so that the plan he had been carefully concocting with Ron and Hermione over the past four weeks seemed laughably childishThey 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 separateNow Hermione was stuck in court proceedings, which would undoubtedly last hours; Ron was struggling to do magic that Harry was sure was beyond him, a woman's liberty possibly depending on the outcome, and he, Harry, was wandering around on the top floor when he knew perfectly well that his quarry had just gone down in the lift
He stopped walking, leaned against a wall, and tried to decide what to doThe silence pressed upon him: There was no bustling or talk or swift footsteps here the purple-carpeted corridors were as hushed as though the pink gucci watch \iMuffliato\i charm had been cast over the place
\iHer office must be up here\i, Harry thought
It seemed most unlikely that Umbridge would keep her jewelry in her office, but on the other hand it seemed foolish not to search it to make sureHe therefore set off along the corridor again, passing nobody but a frowning wizard who was murmuring instructions to a quill that floated in front of him, scribbling on a trail of parchment
Now paying attention to the names on the doors, Harry turned a cornerHalfway along the next corridor he emerged into a wide, open space where a dozen witches and wizards sat in rows at small desks not unlike school desks, though much more highly polished and free from graffitiHarry paused to watch them, for the effect was quite mesmerizingThey were all waving and twiddling their wands in unison, and squares of colored paper were flying in every direction like little pink kitesAfter a few seconds, Harry realized that there was a rhythm to the proceedings, that the papers all formed the same pattern and after a few more seconds he realized what he was watching was the creation of pamphlets - that the paper squares were pages, which, when assembled, folded and magicked into place, fell into neat stacks beside each witch or wizard
Harry crept closer, although the workers were so intent on what they were doing that he doubted they would notice a carpet-muffled footstep, and he slid a completed
pamphlet from the pile beside a young witchHe examined it beneath the Invisibility CloakIts pink cover was emblazoned with a golden title:
\c\bMudbloods\b
\iand the Dangers They Pose to
a Peaceful Pure-Blood Society\i
\cBeneath the title was a picture of a red rose with a simpering face in the middle of its petals, being strangled by a green weed with fangs and a scowlThere was no author's name upon the pamphlet, but again, the scars on the back of his right rock of love tiffany's necklace hand seemed to tingle as he examined itThen the young witch beside him confirmed his suspicion as she said, still waving and twirling her wand, "Will the old hag be interrogating Mudbloods all day, does anyone know?"
"Careful," said the wizard beside her, glancing around nervously; one of his pages slipped and fell to the floor
"What, has she got magic ears as well as an eye, now?"
The witch glanced toward the shining mahogany door facing the space full of pamphlet-makers; Harry looked too, and the rage reared in him like a snakeWhere there might have been a peephole on a Muggle front door, a large, round eye with a bright blue iris had been set into the wood - an eye that was shockingly familiar to anybody who had known Alastor Moody
For a split second Harry forgot where he was and what he was doing there: He even forgot that he was invisibleHe strode straight over to the door to examine the eyeIt gazed blindly upward, frozenThe plaque beneath it read:
\c\bDolores Umbridge\b
Senior Undersecretary to the Minister
\cBelow that a slightly shinier new plaque read:
\cHead of the Muggle-Born
Registration Commission
\cHarry looked back at the dozen pamphlet-makers: Though they were intent upon their work, he could hardly suppose that they would not notice if the door of an empty office opened in front of themHe therefore withdrew from an inner pocket an odd object with little waving legs and a rubber-bulbed horn for a bodyCrouching down beneath the Cloak, he placed the Decoy Detonator on the ground
It scuttled away at once through the legs of the witches and wizards in front of himA few moments later, during which Harry waited with his hand upon the doorknob, there came a loud bang and a great deal of acrid smoke billowed from a cornerThe young witch in the front row shrieked: Pink pages flew everywhere as she and her fellows jumped up, looking around for the source of mulberry style bags the commotionHarry turned the doorknob, stepped into Umbridge's office, and closed the door behind him
He felt he had stepped back in timeThe room was exactly like Umbridge's office at Hogwarts: Lace draperies, doilies and dried flowers covered every surfaceThe walls bore the same ornamental plates, each featuring a highly colored, beribboned kitten, gamboling and frisking with sickening cutenessThe desk was covered with a flouncy, flowered clothBehind Mad-eye's eye, a telescopic attachment enabled Umbridge to spy on the workers on the other side of the doorHarry took a look through it and saw that they were all still gathered around the Decoy DetonatorHe wrenched the telescope out of the door, leaving a hole behind, pulled the magical eyeball out of it, and placed it in his pocketThe he turned to face the room again, raised his wand, and murmured, \i"Accio Locker\i
Nothing happened, but he had not expected it to; no doubt Umbridge knew all about protective charms and spellsHe therefore hurried behind her desk and began pulling open all the drawersHe saw quills and notebooks and Spellotape; enchanted paper clips that coiled snakelike from their drawer and had be beaten back; a fussy little lace box full of spare hair bows and clips; but no sign of a locket
There was a filing cabinet behind the desk: Harry set to searching itLike Filch's filing cabinet at Hogwarts, it was full of folders, each labeled with a nameIt was not until Harry reached the bottommost drawer that he saw something to distract him from the search: Mr
He pulled it out and opened it
\cArthur Weasley \c
\bBlood Status:\b \tPureblood, but with unacceptable pro-Muggle leaningsKnown member of the Order of the Phoenixt
\bFamily:\b \tWife (pureblood), seven children, two youngest at HogwartsNB: Youngest son currently at home, seriously ill, Ministry inspectors have confirmedt
\bSecurity Status:\b chanel tote bags \tTRACK |
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