Categories > Books > Harry Potter > The Mysteries of the Department
Disclaimer: Anything you recognise (and probably some of the stuff you don't) belongs not to me but to J.K Rowling. I do this not for profit, but for fun.
Author's Note to the reader: Well, here it is, my new story. It probably won't be long, most likely pulling in at the 20k - 25k mark, but hopefully it will be quality. The idea behind it is that it is a mystery, so you may be a bit confused right up unti the end (and even after the end!). It's an AU, but I'll leave you to figure out what's different. I'll just say this: Voldemort has not been seen or heard of since he was vanquished in 1981. Everyone, including Dumbledore, believes he is dead. whther or not this is the case will be revealed (eventually). This first prologue is a bit boring and not much happens in it, but it is important to set the scene. Hope you enjoy!
The Mysteries of the Department
Chapter 1 - Prologue
"Excuse me? I'm here to see Mr. Verdic of the Department of Mysteries."
The Welcome Wizard reluctantly looked up from his paper at me, his bored face twisting into excitement and surprise as he saw who I was. Gathering himself, the Wizard looked through a large scroll of parchment on his desk, presumably looking for my name.
"Of course, Mr. Potter, I have your appointment right here. An unspeakable will be up in a moment, if you don't mind waiting."
I obviously had no choice, so with a quick smile at the Wizard I moved aside and stood next to the golden gates that are the entrance to the Ministry, looking around the Atrium. I had read about the Ministry of course, but this was my first time there in the flesh. It was early morning, so Wizards and Witches were still pouring in from the line of fireplaces along the side of the hall, all going about their daily business. I was wondering how many of them were Unspeakables when there was a pointed cough behind me.
"Mr. Potter, I presume?" The wizard behind me said. He wore the black robes of an Unspeakable and had the kind of face that you forget very easily - perfect for his job. "Follow me if you will, Mr. Verdic is waiting."
The Unspeakable turned around and I followed him through the gates into one of the packed lifts, attracting a few stares along the way. The lift slowly descended, stopping at each level to unload passengers and take on a few flying paper airplane memos. The whole trip was made in silence, the unnamed Unspeakable beside me living up to his title, until we reached level nine - The Department of Mysteries.
My guide, who I came to think of as Mr. X, led me out of the now deserted lift and down the thin empty corridor. Silently we stepped through a door into a small, black circular room, lit with blue touches and with a host of doors covering the wall about us.
Mr. X stood in the center of the room and said as if speaking to someone,
"Magpie."
The room instantly began to shift, the doors on the walls revolving so fast that they began to blur and give me motion sickness. Just as I was about to close my eyes, the revolving stopped, except now where there had been a multitude of doors, there were only two.
Walking to one of the two doors, Mr. X knocked and opened the door, saying,
"Mr. Verdic will see you now."
Resisting the urge to roll my eyes at him, I walked through the door into the office beyond, Mr. X closing the door behind me.
For an office in the Department of Mysteries, it was certainly a disappointment. Sure, there were gizmos and gadgets aplenty, but you could have seen those in Dumbledore's office at Hogwarts. I had been expecting something more...magical, and less Muggle, for the most Mysterious place left in Britain. In the center of the office, surrounded by bookcases and shelves was a desk, behind which was a rather fat middle aged man, who strongly reminded me of my old Potions professor, Horace Slughorn.
"Ah! Mr. Potter! Splendid, simply splendid to see you! Do take a seat while you wait," he said jovially, and quickly I wondered how such a loud and happy man became an Unspeakable. "Now, as you have most probably deduced, I am Mr. Verdic, Deputy Head of the Department of Mysteries."
He seemed to quiet down as he said this, possibly remembering that in his position as Deputy Head he was supposed to be a bit more contained in his mannerisms. As for me, I stayed quiet and waited for him to speak again. I did not have to wait for long.
"So, you think you can be an Unspeakable eh?" he said, more serious now. "Well, I must admit that your N.E.W.T. scores are excellent, top of your year weren't you?"
He didn't wait for an answer.
"Indeed Mr. Potter, your qualifications are very impressive, but still, being an Unspeakable amounts to a lot more than your N.E.W.T. results...Let me tell you a little of how we work down here. Every Unspeakable is apprenticed under an experienced Senior Unspeakable when they begin work here to learn the ropes, until they are deemed worthy of Junior Unspeakable status, or 'til it is decided that this is not the right place for them. You will apprentice under Unspeakable Jackson, a Ravenclaw like yourself I believe. He will teach you all you need to know until you are ready to become one of us." Mr. Verdic looked as if he was about to continue his little monologue when a knock sounded on the door.
"Excellent, right on time!" Mr. Verdic exclaimed, and a little louder he called,
"In you come, Jackson, we haven't got all day!"
Turning in my seat to face the door, I watched as an old man entered through the door, unfortunately looking as if he lacked a personality as much as Mr. X. I stood up to meet him, as did Mr. Verdic.
"Excellent timing, Jackson," Mr. Verdic said as he walked out from behind his desk. "Well, Potter, this is where we part for now. Follow Mr. Jackson, he'll show you around."
Mr. Jackson nodded at his boss and walked out of the office, not looking behind to see if I was following. As soon as the office door closed behind me the Door Room began to revolve again, and when it stopped there was once again a multitude of doors. Taking one of them, Mr. Jackson walked through and I followed, braving a question.
"How do you know which door to take?"
Mr. Jackson stopped walking abruptly and gave me a strange look, as if he were surprised by the sound of a voice. Eventually, he said,
"You get used to it," and he carried on walking through the open plan office we had entered. It wasn't just an office though I realized as we walked through the rows of desks, as all around the edges of the office were giant grandfather clocks, each one moving at a different speed, some of them even moving backwards.
"This is the time room." Mr. Jackson said rather unnecessarily as he passed a case holding a series of time-turners. Passing through the door at the end of the office, we walked into a large stone chamber with a veiled archway on a dais at the center. Strange whispering sounds emanated from behind the veil, and I felt the compulsion to see what lay on the other side...
"No-one works here anymore." Mr. Jackson whispered, jolting me out of my reverie. "We must not linger here."
Increasing his pace Mr. Jackson led me to a door I had not seen before on the other side of the chamber, and I couldn't help myself gasp as we walked through it.
It appeared as if the floor had fallen out from under us, and that the walls and doors had vanished. It looked like we were floating in space, even though I could feel the floor underneath my feet, and in the center of the room was a huge moving model of our Solar System, even the smallest of the planets easily the size of a man.
"This is where you will work, with myself and two others, researching possible magical means of space travel." Mr. Jackson said this as if it were the most mundane activity in the world, not a revolutionary idea, but I suppose to him, after working in The Department for so long, even the extraordinary would become normal.
"Your office is in Jupiter, mine is in Mars. The Sun is our main research lab. Each morning you will join us for a meeting in Pluto, after which you will assist one of the team in whatever research they are doing. After lunch you will spend the rest of the day in your office, learning about Magical Research techniques from the books in there. As this is your first day, you may familiarize yourself with the room now. Oh, and look out for the asteroids."
With that relatively large speech over, Mr. Jackson turned and walked into the Sun, leaving me to stare around the room in amazement, before I too turned and walked into Jupiter, ready to start my new life as an Unspeakable.
Author's Note to the reader: Well, here it is, my new story. It probably won't be long, most likely pulling in at the 20k - 25k mark, but hopefully it will be quality. The idea behind it is that it is a mystery, so you may be a bit confused right up unti the end (and even after the end!). It's an AU, but I'll leave you to figure out what's different. I'll just say this: Voldemort has not been seen or heard of since he was vanquished in 1981. Everyone, including Dumbledore, believes he is dead. whther or not this is the case will be revealed (eventually). This first prologue is a bit boring and not much happens in it, but it is important to set the scene. Hope you enjoy!
The Mysteries of the Department
Chapter 1 - Prologue
"Excuse me? I'm here to see Mr. Verdic of the Department of Mysteries."
The Welcome Wizard reluctantly looked up from his paper at me, his bored face twisting into excitement and surprise as he saw who I was. Gathering himself, the Wizard looked through a large scroll of parchment on his desk, presumably looking for my name.
"Of course, Mr. Potter, I have your appointment right here. An unspeakable will be up in a moment, if you don't mind waiting."
I obviously had no choice, so with a quick smile at the Wizard I moved aside and stood next to the golden gates that are the entrance to the Ministry, looking around the Atrium. I had read about the Ministry of course, but this was my first time there in the flesh. It was early morning, so Wizards and Witches were still pouring in from the line of fireplaces along the side of the hall, all going about their daily business. I was wondering how many of them were Unspeakables when there was a pointed cough behind me.
"Mr. Potter, I presume?" The wizard behind me said. He wore the black robes of an Unspeakable and had the kind of face that you forget very easily - perfect for his job. "Follow me if you will, Mr. Verdic is waiting."
The Unspeakable turned around and I followed him through the gates into one of the packed lifts, attracting a few stares along the way. The lift slowly descended, stopping at each level to unload passengers and take on a few flying paper airplane memos. The whole trip was made in silence, the unnamed Unspeakable beside me living up to his title, until we reached level nine - The Department of Mysteries.
My guide, who I came to think of as Mr. X, led me out of the now deserted lift and down the thin empty corridor. Silently we stepped through a door into a small, black circular room, lit with blue touches and with a host of doors covering the wall about us.
Mr. X stood in the center of the room and said as if speaking to someone,
"Magpie."
The room instantly began to shift, the doors on the walls revolving so fast that they began to blur and give me motion sickness. Just as I was about to close my eyes, the revolving stopped, except now where there had been a multitude of doors, there were only two.
Walking to one of the two doors, Mr. X knocked and opened the door, saying,
"Mr. Verdic will see you now."
Resisting the urge to roll my eyes at him, I walked through the door into the office beyond, Mr. X closing the door behind me.
For an office in the Department of Mysteries, it was certainly a disappointment. Sure, there were gizmos and gadgets aplenty, but you could have seen those in Dumbledore's office at Hogwarts. I had been expecting something more...magical, and less Muggle, for the most Mysterious place left in Britain. In the center of the office, surrounded by bookcases and shelves was a desk, behind which was a rather fat middle aged man, who strongly reminded me of my old Potions professor, Horace Slughorn.
"Ah! Mr. Potter! Splendid, simply splendid to see you! Do take a seat while you wait," he said jovially, and quickly I wondered how such a loud and happy man became an Unspeakable. "Now, as you have most probably deduced, I am Mr. Verdic, Deputy Head of the Department of Mysteries."
He seemed to quiet down as he said this, possibly remembering that in his position as Deputy Head he was supposed to be a bit more contained in his mannerisms. As for me, I stayed quiet and waited for him to speak again. I did not have to wait for long.
"So, you think you can be an Unspeakable eh?" he said, more serious now. "Well, I must admit that your N.E.W.T. scores are excellent, top of your year weren't you?"
He didn't wait for an answer.
"Indeed Mr. Potter, your qualifications are very impressive, but still, being an Unspeakable amounts to a lot more than your N.E.W.T. results...Let me tell you a little of how we work down here. Every Unspeakable is apprenticed under an experienced Senior Unspeakable when they begin work here to learn the ropes, until they are deemed worthy of Junior Unspeakable status, or 'til it is decided that this is not the right place for them. You will apprentice under Unspeakable Jackson, a Ravenclaw like yourself I believe. He will teach you all you need to know until you are ready to become one of us." Mr. Verdic looked as if he was about to continue his little monologue when a knock sounded on the door.
"Excellent, right on time!" Mr. Verdic exclaimed, and a little louder he called,
"In you come, Jackson, we haven't got all day!"
Turning in my seat to face the door, I watched as an old man entered through the door, unfortunately looking as if he lacked a personality as much as Mr. X. I stood up to meet him, as did Mr. Verdic.
"Excellent timing, Jackson," Mr. Verdic said as he walked out from behind his desk. "Well, Potter, this is where we part for now. Follow Mr. Jackson, he'll show you around."
Mr. Jackson nodded at his boss and walked out of the office, not looking behind to see if I was following. As soon as the office door closed behind me the Door Room began to revolve again, and when it stopped there was once again a multitude of doors. Taking one of them, Mr. Jackson walked through and I followed, braving a question.
"How do you know which door to take?"
Mr. Jackson stopped walking abruptly and gave me a strange look, as if he were surprised by the sound of a voice. Eventually, he said,
"You get used to it," and he carried on walking through the open plan office we had entered. It wasn't just an office though I realized as we walked through the rows of desks, as all around the edges of the office were giant grandfather clocks, each one moving at a different speed, some of them even moving backwards.
"This is the time room." Mr. Jackson said rather unnecessarily as he passed a case holding a series of time-turners. Passing through the door at the end of the office, we walked into a large stone chamber with a veiled archway on a dais at the center. Strange whispering sounds emanated from behind the veil, and I felt the compulsion to see what lay on the other side...
"No-one works here anymore." Mr. Jackson whispered, jolting me out of my reverie. "We must not linger here."
Increasing his pace Mr. Jackson led me to a door I had not seen before on the other side of the chamber, and I couldn't help myself gasp as we walked through it.
It appeared as if the floor had fallen out from under us, and that the walls and doors had vanished. It looked like we were floating in space, even though I could feel the floor underneath my feet, and in the center of the room was a huge moving model of our Solar System, even the smallest of the planets easily the size of a man.
"This is where you will work, with myself and two others, researching possible magical means of space travel." Mr. Jackson said this as if it were the most mundane activity in the world, not a revolutionary idea, but I suppose to him, after working in The Department for so long, even the extraordinary would become normal.
"Your office is in Jupiter, mine is in Mars. The Sun is our main research lab. Each morning you will join us for a meeting in Pluto, after which you will assist one of the team in whatever research they are doing. After lunch you will spend the rest of the day in your office, learning about Magical Research techniques from the books in there. As this is your first day, you may familiarize yourself with the room now. Oh, and look out for the asteroids."
With that relatively large speech over, Mr. Jackson turned and walked into the Sun, leaving me to stare around the room in amazement, before I too turned and walked into Jupiter, ready to start my new life as an Unspeakable.
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