Chapter Text
Ministry:
Chaos erupted in the Ministry as three wizards disappeared in the crowd. Many started screaming about kidnapping. Dumbledore and his cronies were too calm to those watching while many of the dark and neutral factions started screaming accusations. Madam Bones wasn't surprised as she and the Aurors rushed over.
The Aurors ordered people away from the area. The Aurors trying to get people calm while attempting to figure out what happened. "Start scanning the area. I want to know who got a port key inside the Ministry. I want answers, people." Madam Bones scanned the crowd.
Madam Bones could see Dumbledore and knew he was responsible. Dumbledore wasn't the one to bring the port key and arranged for wherever the three men disappeared to be dumped. Dumbledore would have one of his flunkies do the deed itself. Dumbledore didn't like to get his hands dirty but had no problem using others. Dumbledore certainly didn't like losing his power, especially to someone Dumbledore thought he could control and manipulate as he did to Harry Potter.
Madam Bones had made sure none of the known Order members were present during any Wizengamot sessions and Dumbledore was looking for his clowns. She hid her smirk as she watched her team work the area. She could see the Unspeakables were running their scans since she had them working uncover as Aurors for this exact reason. She wasn't sure what they would find but she had a few surprises for Dumbledore. Things weren't going to go as he planned. She finished giving orders and headed to her office. She had someplace she needed to be.
Meanwhile:
Harry fell as he landed. "I hate port keys." He ignored the two standing men who were trying not to laugh at his ungraceful fall. It was still the one form of transportation he couldn't fully master. He did better when he was aware he would be traveling via port key.
Lucius snickered as Harry stood up. Voldemort looked around the tiny room they were in. "Any idea where we are?" The room was empty. There wasn't a piece of furniture in the room. The walls were cement. There were just two very tiny rectangle windows with bars on them. The room looked to be the average size of a small bedroom in any muggle home.
Harry looked around. "No. It's not any place I recognize but he has so many followers we could be anyway." Harry was very aware of how long Dumbledore had to recruit and get many people into a variety of places without alerting anyone they might be part of the Order. Dumbledore also had a lot of people who felt they owed the old fart.
"I can feel the magic suppressors." Lucius shivered at the repression of his magic he was feeling. He hated the feeling of the dampening of his magic. It wasn't something many wizards could feel but his family was a bit more magically sensitive than most. Draco didn't inherit the gift. It was one of the many skills the boy didn't inherit.
Voldemort grinned. Harry was wary. A grinning Voldemort wasn't something he was used to seeing. "Why are you smiling? We don't know what Dumbledore has planned." Harry was a bit nervous. He was aware of how controlling Dumbledore was. He wouldn't be surprised if his followers just opened the door and shot some spells at them to stun them before turning them into Dumbledore's pets. He didn't want a repeat of his Hogwarts years. He also didn't want to get married to Ginny Weasley.
"You were expecting this?" Lucius looked at the Dark Lord. He wondered what the man might have done to block Dumbledore. They had already banned port keys and other forms of transportation in the Ministry.
"I thought he would try something. I made arrangements with Madam Bones." Voldemort reached into his robe pocket and pulled out two stones. He held them up. One was about the size of a small ball while the other resembled a pebble. They were black, of course. "One is a tracker that will alert Amelia where we are. The second one is for if we are in dire need of assistance. The Aurors will surround the area and hope to catch Dumbledore and his cronies entering where we are."
"Interesting." Harry looked at the two stones. "Runes?"
"Yes. The magical dampening won't work because I believe Dumbledore wouldn't have expected you to bring us with you." Voldemort slipped them over so Harry could see the runes on the stones. The pebble just had the one for the tracer. "What is the plan?"
"Amelia will follow the tracker here and her specialized team will wait for Dumbledore and his pals to appear. The tracer is transmitting our presence and will alert her when anyone else appears in the house. The Unspeakables designed it for kidnapping attempts for Ministry employees but felt this was an excellent way to test it. Once anyone else arrives, they will be alerted and we will be rescued."
"They will need ward breakers." Lucius reminded Voldemort.
Voldemort's grin got bigger as he held up the larger stone. "Already handled. The runes are designed to remove the wards once a keyword is spoken. The matching stone is in the hands of the Unspeakables and they will say the key word and the wards will collapse."
Harry was a bit surprised. "I wasn't aware runes could work like that."
"Me either." Lucius held out his hand and Voldemort put the stones into his palm. "Light too. I don't sense much magic so they wouldn't show up on a scan either."
"Exactly. Also, the magic is not done in Latin or English. It was done in Parsletongue so can't be removed by anyone but Harry and me." Voldemort pointed to the runes on the bigger stone. "I had to practice on several stones before I could etch this one correctly. After I finished, the Unspeakables showed me a tool that would etch the stones more easily. They have been working on getting muggle technology to work with magic. I was a bit impressed, I will admit."
Harry shrugged. "I could give them some names to contact. In my travels, I meet many wizards who have been very successful in doing it. The UK is several decades behind the rest of the magical world." Harry walked to the corner of the room. Since they couldn't see a door, Harry decided to sit in the corner closest to him. "If we each take a corner, we might avoid getting hit by a stunner or something."
Voldemort and Lucius settled down in different corners. They started a conversation regarding the latest theories in muggle technology mixing with magic.
Dumbledore:
Dumbledore was trying not to appear too excited. He hadn't expected Harry to grab Tom and Lucius. He would be able to get the three of them under his control and get the world back to where he wanted it to be. He was trying to appear as if he wasn't watching what the Aurors were doing but he was getting a bit concerned with how long the scanning was taking.
Dumbledore glanced around the area. He caught sight of several of his people. Some were milling around wondering what he was going to do. He wasn't concerned about them. Nothing would trace back to him or them. He did panic a bit when he spotted Molly Weasley. He knew it was her because she was wearing one of the cloaks he had removed from Hogwarts to help her remain unseen at the Ministry.
Dumbledore could see Molly was attempting to sneak out of the area but everyone was being prevented from leaving. He had warned her to leave as soon as possible. The trace would locate her if she remained in the area. The magical signature of the port key would still be present on her body. He needed her to leave before the Aurors traced it to her.
Molly would never reveal anything. Well, technically, she wouldn't be able to reveal anything since the Order had a Vow of Silence regarding it and what Dumbledore ordered them to do. However, he didn't need another bad headline in the newspaper. He attempted to make his way closer to her. He was blocked by the Aurors standing guard in the area while the scanning was being accomplished. "Must we remain, my boy?" Dumbledore's eyes started twinkling.
"Yes."
The Auror never turned his head and Dumbledore almost growled. He looked around to see if any of the Aurors on duty were Order members. None were. He felt a bit of a panic as it appeared the Aurors were about done with the scans and Molly was still in the area. He needed her to leave. He could see Arthur but he wasn't close to his wife. He started to search the crowds but no one he trusted was close enough to Molly. She was surrounded by those of the dark and grey factions. It wasn't a surprise since Molly would have to get close to the boy to place the port key on him.
Dumbledore's fear went up a bit when the Aurors turned in the direction where Molly was standing. He saw one of the Aurors break away and head toward Madam Bones' office. Molly must have realized what was going to happen and was trying to push her way through the crowd but was stopped by one of the guarding Aurors. Dumbledore frowned when he heard "Where are you going?"
"I was trying to leave." Molly's voice carried over the crowd. Dumbledore closed his eyes. The woman was loud. "Please move aside."
"No."
Dumbledore hoped she wouldn't make a scene. He hoped she would remain calm and wait it out. He didn't need her to attract attention to herself. He closed his eyes and almost moaned in pain as Molly's voice rose as she demanded to leave the building. His fear hit full force when one of the scanning Aurors pointed at Molly. "Arrest that witch."
Dumbledore watched as Molly was arrested and screaming about evil Death Eaters until she was silenced. Dumbledore was sure Rita was in the crowd and wasn't looking forward to the headline in the paper tomorrow. He also needed to figure out how to get Severus to brew the extra potions he would require for Lucius and Voldemort since Molly would be dealing with legal issues. Now he had extra problems that if Molly had listened to him might not have happened.
Molly's legal issues weren't something he had the power to get rid of so easily due to his loss of power. Well, he could once he got control over Harry, Lucius, and Voldemort. Controlling them was going to be a very messy problem called Severus Snape. Severus was going to be an issue in brewing the potions once Dumbledore informed him of what he needed to be brewed. Severus might hate the Potters but the man wasn't unethical and failed to recognize the greater good. Molly never questioned what potions he needed brewing. Severus would and if there was anything illegal about them, Severus would require written authorization from Dumbledore and the Ministry before brewing them.
Dumbledore had to think. He couldn't leave the three men in the room but he couldn't release them until he had a way to control them. He couldn't get Molly released without controlling the three men. He couldn't control them unless Severus brewed the potions he needed. Molly hadn't brewed any of the potions due to the short shelf life of the potions. They weren't aware of when they would be able to grab Harry as they had failed to get a port key attached the last three times. Molly was going to brew the potions while Dumbledore planned to keep Harry under guard by Order members in a heavily warded house.
Dumbledore had been so happy when the port key worked but now his gut was filled with dread. He needed to get control. He had the targets he needed but he had no means of keeping them under control. Severus would never brew the potions. A thought caught Dumbledore by surprise. Yes, that might just work. After all, Severus did make a Vow to protect Harry. Dumbledore unwrapped a lemon candy. While this plan wasn't perfect, he was sure he could get Severus to brew the required potions. After all, the Vow, Severus was in his debt, and Severus hated Voldemort. Yes, this new adaption of his plan would work and when Molly was free, they would get Harry married to Ginny and make sure the contract would prevent the boy from breaking away again.