E I G H T Y - O N E

⋮✰⋮

When they reached the Ministry, they thankfully didn't deal with any issues from the government workers. It was empty with most people already home after the end of the work day, making it easy for the group of teenagers to run through and try and find the best way to the Department of Mysteries.

"There's an elevator that's a little farther down this hallway that no one uses," Estelle suggested, already beginning to walk in the direction. "Even if it seems like no one's here, we probably don't want to run into anyone right now. It'll still take you straight to the floor where the Department of Mysteries is."

Everyone looked to Harry, who nodded in agreement and began to follow Estelle down the hallway. After an elevator trip down to the lower levels of the building and running through the twisting halls, the group finally came across a large, plain wooden door at the dead end of one of the corridors.

"This is it," Harry plainly stated. "This is where we need to be."

"Are you sure?" Ginny asked, eyeing the door uneasily as if she got a bad gut feeling about it. "This is definitely it?"

"This is definitely it," He confirmed, already reaching forward to pull open the large door. Estelle nodded beside Adeline, only further supporting Harry's decision to open the door.

After making their way through a dark hallway, everyone's jaws dropped when they entered a large, seemingly endless room that was lined with floor to ceiling shelfs with glowing spheres.

"You want to find something in here?" Neville question, in disbelief.

Harry nodded. "Look for aisle 95."

The group navigated their way through the maze of shelves and glowing objects until they found the aisle they were looking for. Adeline saw Harry's face drop when he realized that Sirius wasn't there, but Ron had noticed something else that seemed far more important in that moment.

"Harry?" Ron softly called out, his eyes locked on a sphere sitting carefully on a high shelf. "You should come and see this."

"Why?"

"It's...it's got your name on it," Ron eventually stammered out.

Harry moved closer to where Ron was pointing. A small glass sphere sat on a high shelf and appeared incredibly dusty, as if it had not been touched by a soul in years. Along with the other curious teenagers, Harry craned his neck in order to read a yellowed, aged label attached to the shelf right below the glass sphere.

S.P.T. to A.P.W.B.D

Dark Lord and (?) Harry Potter

"What is it?" Ron questioned, unnerved. "What's your name doing down here?"

As Harry stretched out his hand, trying to grab a hold on the glass ball, Melanie quietly remarked, "It might not be the best idea to take the mysterious glowing sphere right now. I don't have a good feeling about this."

"She's right," Hermione said in a sharp voice. "I don't think you should touch it."

"Why not?" Harry responded. "It's something to do with me, isn't it?"

Harry managed to grab onto the sphere and held it in his hands, seemingly transfixed by the white, glowing mist within the glass. Over Neville's shoulder, Ginny noticed something that made her eyes widen and shout "Harry!" as she held up her wand.

The whole group turned to look where Ginny was staring, and everyone's chests tightened with fear when they saw a masked Death Eater standing only a few meters away from there. Harry pushed his way to the front of the group, his wand in one hand and the sphere in the other.

"You know, you really should learn to tell the difference between dreams and reality..." The masked figure slowly removed his Death Eater's mask, revealing the all too familiar face of Lucius Malfoy. "You saw what the Dark Lord wanted you to see. Now hand me the Prophecy."

"If you do anything to us, I'll break it," Harry threatened.

A loud cackle of laughter suddenly sounded from behind Lucius Malfoy, and Bellatrix Lestrange stepped forward. "He knows how to play," She teased. "Itty, bitty, baby Potter."

Adeline, Estelle, Ophelia, and Melanie instinctively moved together, attempting to protect each other like a small pack. Adeline's blood felt as if it had turned to ice, and it only worsened when one of the masked Death Eaters stepped closer to her.

"I recognize you from the graveyard last June..." One of the Death Eaters sneered, stepping uncomfortably close to Adeline despite her friends surrounding her. He grazed his wand against her scar, causing Adeline to flinch and take a large step back. "Well...some things have clearly changed since then."

Adeline didn't dare give them a response, instead glaring stonily at the dark witches and wizards in front of her.

"Oh, I've been waiting to meet you!" Bellatrix cackled once more, staring Adeline down with a crazed look in her dark eyes. "Adeline Reyes! The little Mudblood girl who somehow managed to escape! That coward Pettigrew couldn't handle killing you. But...if I had been there instead of locked away...they would have been mourning your death that night instead."

"Bellatrix Lestrange," Neville muttered quietly to himself. Adeline couldn't help but notice how he stiffened up at the sight of the woman, but he still looked her dead in the eyes.

"Neville Longbottom, is it?" Bellatrix asked aloud, practically mocking him. "How's Mum and Dad?"

"Better now that they're about to be avenged!" He yelled, beginning to storm forward before being stopped by Harry. Adeline reached out and rested a hand on Neville's arm, trying her best to comfort him and calm his anger despite the situation and Bellatrix Lestrange's words.

"Now, everyone, let's calm down, shall we?" Lucius interjected, his voice shocking level and calm as he stretched his arm out towards Harry. "All we want is the Prophecy."

"Why did Voldemort need me to come down here and get it?"

"You dare speak his name?" Bellatrix questioned furiously. "You filthy half-blood?"

"It's alright, he's just a curious lad, aren't you?" Lucius said. "Prophecies can only be retrieved by those whom they are about. Which is lucky for you, really."

"Have you ever wondered...what is the reason for the connection between you and the Dark Lord?" Lucius continued as him and Bellatrix slowly stepped closer to the group. Out of the corner of her eye, Adeline could see the other Death Eaters doing the same. "Why he was unable to kill you when you were just an infant? Don't you want to know the secret of your scar? All the answers are there, Potter – right in your hand. All you have to do...is give it to me. Then I can show you everything."

"I waited fourteen years," Harry began, his voice surprisingly calm. "I guess I can wait a little longer."

Suddenly, Harry shouted, "Now!" and the whole group of teenagers shot Stunning Spells towards the Death Eaters surrounding them.

The Death Eater that had been standing in front of Adeline clearly had not expected the spell, flying backwards when her spell hit him squarely in the chest. She didn't even have the time to celebrate, as she was already bolting down the aisleway and shooting spells at any Death Eater she came across. She felt a spell went whizzing past the right side of her face, just barely grazing her cheek.

"I'll take your right, Adeline!" Estelle shouted over the noise, running to Adeline's right side and protecting her blind spot. A Death Eater flew in front of the girls and the two hit him with simultaneous spells, causing him to go crashing into a shelf of glass spheres

Melanie and Ophelia, who had been running down a separate aisle before, practically collided with Adeline and Estelle at an intersection between the paths. When multiple Death Eaters began to approach them, four girls stood with their backs against each other, trying their best to fight as a pack and incapacitate the dark wizards to the best of their ability.

Just ahead of them, they could spot Ginny Weasley standing defiantly as two Death Eaters came flying towards her. Before they had the chance to come any nearer, however, Ginny bellowed, "Reducto!" causing the Death Eaters to go flying backwards and out of sight.

For a moment, all the teenagers stared at her in awe. But then they heard crashing in the distance, and they looked in horror as all the glass prophecies and shelves started crashing down like dominos. They all turn and began to run, Neville having to grab Luna's arm to get her to run faster and stop her from getting distracted.

They darted through the aisleways, trying to avoid spheres that were falling from the shelves at an even faster rate. As they ran, a large dark door suddenly came into view. Without even thinking about what might be lying behind it, Harry flung it open and ran through.

When Adeline bolted through the door, she didn't expect to immediately begin falling. The wind whipped through her hair as she fell through the air. Just as soon as she began falling, however, she stopped. She laid hovering just a few centimeters above the ground for a split-second before her – along with everyone else  – came crashing down on the ground.

"Department of Mysteries..." Ron muttered quietly to himself as he stood up and brushed himself off. "They've certainly got that right, haven't they."

As Adeline stood up, the first thing she noticed was a large stone archway standing tall in the middle of the bare room. There was something so transfixing about it to Adeline, and she couldn't help but take a few steps closer as Harry asked, "Can you tell what the voices are saying?"

"What voices?" Melanie questioned. "I can't hear a thing."

"Let's get out of here," Ron said suddenly, looking distressed. "This is giving me a bad feeling."

"I can hear them too," Luna said, ignoring Ron's plea as she took a step closer to the veiled archway.

"Me too..." Adeline muttered, trying to make sense of the whispering as she instinctively stepped closer.

"Well that's not terrifying whatsoever," Ophelia commented quietly, looking more and more uncomfortable the longer she stared at the archway. "Aren't the three of you the only ones who could actually see the thestrals, too?"

"Harry, it's just an empty archway," Hermione pleaded desperately, tugging on his hand. "Please, Harry, Ron's right! We need to get out!"

Finally, Harry seemed to snap out of his trance. "We should go," He muttered. "Figure out where Sirius is."

Adeline breathed a sigh of relief. The archway gave her the most uncomfortable feeling, and all she wanted was to be not just out of that room, but out of the Ministry of Magic itself. Maybe they could escape and things would turn out alright.

Not even a second later, Adeline felt herself being pulled away from the archway to the other side of the room, a wand press up against her temple and an arm wrap tightly around her throat. Quickly, she realized that she should stop speaking so soon and things would not be fine whatsoever.

⋮✰⋮

a/n:

hi guys !!

not as much of an action-packed chapter, but let's just say the next chapter certainly will have its fair share of action >:)

i hope you all enjoyed the chapter and have a lovely day !! i'll see you at the next update !!

- g ♡