Chapter Four:
The Trip Through Triggering Things

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"Before we go, it's better to disguise ourselves beyond just a black hood."

The six of them were standing in the middle of the Drawing room of #12, Grimmauld Place which was serving as their Headquarters for this mysterious mission. The fire in the fireplace crackled, ready to send them off to some dramatic mystery solving frenzy as they stood on the dark green carpet.

"Polyjuice? I thought we ran out of them," Ron wondered, placing his wand inside his chest pocket.

"No and yes. We did run out of it and we are not going to use it. What we are going to use is." Hermione turned to Ginny, pushing a strand of her hair behind as she did. The redhead nodded and Hermione took out her wand, pointing it at Ginny.

"Hermione, what are you doing?" Harry hissed but the witch did not bother to answer him. She was muttering something under her breath.

"She knows what she does," Neville said simply. They stood in silence, Harry with closed eyes as they waited for Hermione to finish.

"Blimey!" Ron's exclamation caused Harry to open his eyes and return to the world. A small nerve shot up his temple and his eyes widened in surprise. Standing in front of him was a blonde haired girl who had half of her long, wavy hair in a braid. A twinkle crossed her blue eyes and she began laughing, hysterically.

"Oh, all of their expressions are the sun for – for my laughter!" the girl choked out, clutching herself. "Especially this daft's!" She punched his stomach and he winced.

"Ouch! That's a sensitive area!" Harry protested. He had just overcome a bad food poisoning last week and boy was his stomach tired. "Gin?"

"Yep, that'd be me." The girl, Ginny, turned to Hermione and thanked her. "You are amazing at this, Hermione! Never expected for you to master this so soon!"

Hermione smiled. "We are going to be using glamour charms to disguise ourselves. They are fail-proof if done by an expert and can be infallible. Ginny, can you do it for Harry and Luna while I work on Ron and Neville?" Ginny nodded and stepped up to Luna, winking at Harry as she did.

"I'll be back at you after I'm done with Luna's. There's a wound in your tummy to glamour up as well, I see," she said, cheekily and started working her magic on a smiling Luna. Harry merely smiled back. The growing apprehension churned at his insides and caused a sick feeling. Oh, he only had to hope that he would not lead his friends into another trap. . .

—xoxo—

Harry rubbed off the ashes on his black hood as he stepped out of one of the numerous fireplaces in the Ministry atrium. The dark, polished floor of the long hall lead to the elevators, Harry knew as much having visited the Ministry on several mishaps. Towards his right-hand side were witches and wizards, waiting in queues to use the Floo Network. Immediately, he stepped aside to let an elderly woman use the Floo he had come from. The statue of the Muggles being tortured was long since demolished under the leadership of Cornelius Fudge but it did take some of his and Kingsley Shacklebolt's insistence, so, Harry took the leisure to wait where it previously stood.

The atrium was well refurbished, thanks to help from the various departments. It had to be welcoming enough for foreign individuals landing on this soil, after all, no matter the war and the destruction it caused, they could not be used for an excuse.

"Ah, here you are, Hax!" a bubbly voice exclaimed from somewhere behind him. He turned around with a smile, knowing that it would barely be visible from beneath the hood.

"Great to see that you have arrived, Gem," he responded as another figure came to stand beside him. It was Ginny; they had decided to take up fake names just for this cause lest they blew up their cover, literally. "I s'ppose Room is having a bit of a trouble, ah—! There he is!"

Another hooded figure was making his way towards them, scratching the back of his neck. Ron. "Blimey, those stupid washrooms!" he exclaimed upon reaching them. Harry had not wished for all of them to appear by Floo, hence they had parted into three teams. Whilst he and Ginny came by Floo, Ron and Hermione used the Muggle entrance; Neville and Luna would join them by Apparition. Everything was just so that they could draw less attention.

"It's actually really disgusting."

"There you are, Hera," Ginny greeted Hermione who had joined them.

"We are here, too." Two more hooded figures approached them, their robes billowing behind them as they sprinted.

"Let's take the elevator by batch," Harry suggested again and left with one of his friends, who, he did not recognize. Being The Chosen One, he definitely did not want to attract eyes, especially when the person who had called upon them wanted them to not be seen.

And Harry could not take any chances with that.

—xoxo—

Harry and Neville, as he learned in the elevator, were met with yet another hooded figure in the hall which lead to the Department of Mysteries, but this one was foreign.

"Ah, Mr Brave and Mr Persevere, yes, of course. Just here the way I expected. Perfect. Why don't we wait for the rest of your friends, yes?" the hooded person asked. Harry simply nodded and made no move to enquire. Soon enough, with two more consecutive declarations by the voice of the elevator, his friends were all beside him. "I expect you to be curious, nervous, why, even afraid but there's no need to worry. You are in the latibule of us, Unspeakables. I am Unspeakable Rune."

"So, you are the one who sent us the letter!" Hermione concluded from behind him.

"Yes, that would be me."

"What help would you need? As far as I've heard from –" Ron paused, hesitant to give away the most vital source of his, then continued, his tone taking a much guarded aura. "my sources, Unspeakables are powerful in their own right and are do not pay heed to the Ministry."

"That is right, Mr Loyal, but you see, there's a problem which is – although I am ashamed to admit as such – proving to be much complicated than what I initially signed up for," Rune explained, shrugging. "I'm afraid I cannot delve into deeper details as it's not in my place to do so but I'm sure our Head will be pleased to meet you.

"Although, I must warn you. The Unspeakables here have been here for more than just a decade and are, if I daresay, quite grumpy. This place just adds to the sulkiness. Y'know, the mood of it."

Harry heard Ron let out a small, nervous laugh.

"You don't look quite old, yourself, Unspeakable Rune," Neville spoke up. Indeed, with the way he walked briskly and his bubbly attitude even in the grim ambience, it would hard to call him old.

Unspeakable Rune laughed genuinely. "You can say that again. I was into mysteries ever since I joined my wizarding school, which one I cannot reveal unfortunately. I loved the thrill that came along with it, the fascination of solving a particularly hard riddle and the satisfaction of knowing that you are right – ah – that's why I am where I am." Harry could make out a faint trace of a smile behind the hood.

A wave of déjà vu rushed over him, almost overwhelming his mind. He could feel the relief that he had felt, a year ago, after he had claimed rule over Voldemort. The thrill that his life was finally free; free from the reins of torture, darkness and dark magic. He had felt as if his life – the life of all but an ordinary boy – had built up to that one moment of pride and celebration; that his ambition was finally fulfilled and his goal achieved.

He was still an Auror-in-training and had never felt as much proud of himself yet as he had, that fateful second of May. Perhaps, that was how Rune felt.

"Here we are. Welcome to the Department of Mysteries, all renewed, I might add." Rune's warm welcome snapped him out of his musings. His breath caught for a split second, as he remembered the time when the same gang of people, save Rune ,had been in this very same place with a mission to save a man he had adored. It seemed that the feeling of déjà vu was not going to leave him that day as he shuddered in remembrance.

"We have a small hallway to cross for the Head's room. I'm just given the secret passageway's location for escorting you all. It keeps changing each time a person passes through it," Rune supplied, leading them through another hall which was tiled with dark marble. The entire hall was wand-drop silent except for the flip-flops of their shoes and boots. Patterns which had a sense of intrigue on its own were carved onto the roof, slithering, crawling and even elegantly moving forward with them as they walked.

The air of mystery all but lessened. Harry could understand why this department was named as such. Their workspace itself contributed more than half to its name. The silent carelessness of the place was eerily reminiscent of the Chamber of Secrets. Harry felt a tiny hand slip into his precisely when the thought processed. Perhaps she had felt it too; Ginny had, after all, had one of the most traumatic experiences with the Chamber. The unsettling feeling of something arcane looming over when they were unprotected and, not vigilant spread through his chest. . .

The scene shifted and, with it lessened the heavy feeling in Harry's chest. They were now in a room oddly reminiscent of the Slytherin Common Room. "That was a long way!" Rune spoke up, sighing. "Turner tricked me, damn."

"What's wrong?" Hermione questioned as they came to an halt in front of a bookshelf.

"Well, I didn't want you all to walk such a long way in that hall. Turner, the Head, told me that it was a rather short route. You see, the shortcuts in this department are a path with their own mind. They can make people passing through them feel absurd, faint, or even send them into coma if they weren't an Unspeakable with a power of their own. I did not want to risk it with you six since none of you are Unspeakables yet," he supplied before apologizing. "My apologies for putting you all through trouble."

Harry felt the need to talk. "No worries. We'll feel better soon," he reassured, squeezing Ginny's hand and shooting everyone else a glance.

"Great. Turner shall take you from here. My job is done. Until we meet, Mr Brave and His Comrades." Rune bowed, then left them.

"He seems nice, doesn't he?" Hermione whispered.

"Oh, yeah!" Ron shot back, sarcastically with a tinge of jealousy. Harry forced himself not to roll his eyes.

"Guys, ssh! I hear someone," Luna silenced and at once, everyone stopped talking. Harry did not have to strain his ears for, another hooded figure had emerged from behind one of the numerous bookshelves.

"Welcome, Mr Potter, to the abode of the Head of Unspeakables."

I'm so sorry for the super late update. I've not been strong enough to write for a while.

Thank you for reading.

Miyoko x