Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

Chapter 16

Staying in Grimmauld Place began to wear on all of us as time went on. We couldn't exit the house with the knowledge that we were constantly being watched on the outside by Death Eaters who were undoubtedly instructed to stay posted in the area once our absence was noted on the Hogwarts Express. Not wanting to bring too much attention to ourselves, we only left the house cautiously underneath the Invisibility Cloak every now and then. Since we could hardly leave the house, we began to grow restless in the house constantly around each other in the small space. For the time being, we resorted to taking turns keeping an eye on the entrance of the Ministry of Magic to keep an eye out for Umbridge and the common traffic patterns of the Ministry workers.

Today was my turn to keep an eye out, but I hadn't caught sight of her as I figured that I would not. As Ron informed us, she might be using the Floo Network to get into the Ministry rather than walking directly there like some of the lower employees.

"I don't think we're going to catch her anywhere outside of the Ministry," I sighed when I came back from my shift. "And I'm not so sure how helpful this watching is going to be much longer - we aren't figuring out anything new other than Mr. Weasley's new haircut in the past few days."

"I agree," Harry said as he paced the floor not far from me. "We need to get that locket soon before she gets rid of it herself."

"Do you think she knows what it is?" Neville asked.

"It's hard to say," Hermione replied. "With You-Know-Who holding control over the Ministry, it's hard to say who knows what. Either way, we need to do something before she or the Death Eaters figure out what it is."

"Tomorrow," Harry said.

All of us stopped at once and looked around at each other as Harry looked passed all of us. When he didn't say any more, everyone turned to me as if I had an explanation.

"Do you think we'll be ready?" I asked.

"I don't see why not," Harry shrugged as if we weren't planning to break into the Ministry of Magic.

"It's too soon," Neville said.

"How is it too soon?" Harry demanded. "We've been watching them long enough and we're not getting any new information."

"We do have the Polyjuice potions ready," I said. "All we need to do is get some hair or something from some of the workers."

"But shouldn't we be more familiar with the person we're impersonating?" Ron suggested. "We haven't exactly picked out who we're going to be."

"We can figure it out as we go along," Harry said.

"It's not going to be that easy, Harry," I said. "One mix up and the entire thing is off. You know that the Death Eaters were warned that we would try to get into the Ministry. They're bound to be prepared for this."

"We'll just need to be cautious," Harry said.

"It's still reckless," I said uncomfortably. "But I'm sure that the people that we impersonate will have some sort of identification on them. We don't need to know everything about them - just what department they work in."

"They usually do carry that sort of information around on them," Ron said. "I know that Dad has a Ministry of Magic identification card in his wallet."

"Then it's settled?" Harry asked while looking over at me.

"Tomorrow it is," I said.

We were all nervous when we woke up the next morning. Ron and Neville hardly spoke at all as they ate the breakfast that Kreacher served us all. Hermione, on the other hand, took an entirely different approach and continuously discussed the plan while Harry and I occasionally chimed in when she started to panic.

"If we find the locket - " Hermione started.

"When we find the locket," I corrected her.

"When one of us finds the locket," she started over. "We need to have some sort of signal that we can leave."

"How about 'I got it let's go?'" Harry suggested mid chew.

"But we're probably going to get separated," Hermione sighed. "We've already been over that."

"Hermione, we know," I said. "Everything is going to be fine - don't overthink it."

"There's no guarantee that we won't get caught," she said. "What do we do if they figure us out - "

"We run," I said.

"Getting out as soon as possible is usually a pretty good strategy," Harry said.

"Now, getting out of the house," Hermione addressed us all while ignoring Harry and me. "Do we remember the plan?"

"Invisibility Cloak," Ron spoke up. "We've already - "

"I know that we've already been through this," Hermione snapped. "I just want to be prepared. We're not going to all fit underneath it. I'll apparate with Ron and Neville first and then I'll come back for Harry and Emily. You two are to remain out of sight."

"I was actually planning on starting a spectacle," Ron muttered.

"Stop it - this is serious," Hermione said.

Once we finished eating, we all began to get our things together for the plan. The Polyjuice potions were already set out in their flasks and ready to go. Once everything was together, we all stood by the door. I took a deep breath and gave a nervous smile to Harry as he handed the Invisibility Cloak over to Hermione. Neville and Ron both put on hats as a temporary cover-up while they were visible. It wasn't enormously effective to anyone who stood too close or looked too long, but we didn't intend on sticking around in one spot for too long for anyone to figure it out. We planned on moving quickly until the Polyjuice potion was in our systems.

When we all decided that we had everything that we could possibly need, Hermione stepped underneath the cloak with Neville and Ron and disappeared from sight.

"We won't be long," Hermione's voice said. "When I get back, we need to hurry."

"We know," I told her. "Keep your heads down."

"See you there," Neville's voice said.

When the door opened and closed, it all began to set in what we were doing and I suddenly started to feel a panic rise up from within.

"We'll be fine," Harry said. "Just stay focused."

"You too," I nodded.

Not a moment later, door opened back up again and we quickly jumped underneath the cloak with Hermione and grabbed onto her before Apparating from Grimmauld Place and leaving Kreacher by himself. When we arrived in the agreed upon location, the severity of the situation and the danger that we were in suddenly hit me.

"Okay, we need to make this quick," Hermione said.

Hermione stepped out from underneath the Invisibility Cloak and left us underneath. In amongst all of our planning, we all agreed that it was vital that Harry and I remain out of sight until we had Polyjuice potion in our systems. While it was a risk for the others to be exposed, it would draw more attention if we were in plain sight as opposed to them. They were more likely to fade into the background in these early days of our hiding.

When she stepped out, she went on with the plan of selecting different people we could use for our disguise. During our observations, we had picked up on the pattern of people going to the Ministry as opposed to just other random passerbys. With this in mind, Hermione and Neville lured four separate individuals to an area around the corner and out of sight before placing a spell on them that left them unconscious. Once they had done this, they came back and retrieved the three of us who remained back into the secure location where the original Ministry workers would remain safe and out of sight until we were able to complete our mission.

Once we had all gotten to the out of sight location, Hermione and I moved quickly and got hair from the Ministry workers that we would be going undercover as so we could finish making the Polyjuice potions that we brought along with us.

Hermione and I handed out the now completed Polyjuice potions to everyone before we all held our nose and tipped back the potions until it was all into our systems. Neville, being the only one who hadn't ever taken this kind of potion before, made the unfortunate mistake of not holding his nose long enough and got the full taste of the clumpy potion.

"That is awful," he coughed and his eyes suddenly went wide.

No matter how many times a person takes this potion, I couldn't imagine ever getting used to the feeling. The woman that I assumed the role of was much taller than my stature and I suddenly shot up all of my body parts getting smaller as I transformed into the very young, tall, skinny woman. My hair got shorter and began to turn into the dark shade of brown and my eyesight suddenly got so awful that I couldn't see anything in front of me. Though I couldn't see them anymore, I could tell that the pants that I was wearing that fit me normally were now a good ways up my calves to the point that it was uncomfortable.

Walking over to the woman I was now identical too, I took the thick glasses off of her face and put them on and was content now that I could see. Removing her identification from her purse, I discovered my new identity just before getting some clothes that Hermione brought in her never-ending purse that would more properly fit me.

"So, my name is now Julie Thompson," I read off of the card. "But it doesn't say exactly where she works…"

Looking over, I saw that what used to be Neville was now a much shorter, balding, heavyset man with a full beard on his face and a look of shock and disgust. Remembering my first time using Polyjuice Potion, the look seemed familiar.

"I never want to do that again," Neville said as he searched for the identification in the man's jacket. "Apparently I'm Dean McCormick?"

"I've heard of him," Ron said. "He works with my dad."

Hermione took on the role as a woman named Mafalda Hopkirk while Ron became Reginald Cattermole and Harry became Albert Runcorn. Once we discovered our identities and where they all worked and changed into our clothes, we quickly decided that we needed to move on if we were to get into the Ministry on time without raising any suspicion by showing up late.

Rather than all running out of our hidden location at once, we tried to gradually emerge from it so we didn't raise suspicion from anyone else. I nervously walked a little ways behind Hermione in her new form and followed her and some other Ministry workers that we had observed during our observations in the past. Harry, Ron, and Neville followed not far behind and tried to keep their heads forward and disguised the nervousness that I knew was creeping up inside of them like it was with me.

When we finally got to the known entrance to the Ministry that was oddly enough in lavatories, I attempted to look as if I knew exactly what I was doing despite having no idea how this entrance worked. Knowing that these were wizards, there was no way that it was going to be something easily thought of.

Separating from the boys in our group, Hermione and I fell into the line leading into the ladies lavatory. Behind several other unfamiliar Ministry workers, I looked ahead in confusion. I knew that wizards had different methods of transportation, but I had no idea what I was supposed to do now. Luckily I was put with someone who knew just about everything.

"How are we supposed to get in?" I asked Hermione in a barely audible tone.

"Step into the toilet," she said quietly with her hand in front of her mouth. "Then flush the toilet."

"Seriously?" I asked in disbelief.

Hermione nodded and then stepped up into a stall and out of sight. When the next stall opened, I walked calmly over and closed myself in so I couldn't see anyone on the outside. Looking at the toilet, I suddenly felt ridiculous as I climbed into it. Considering I prepared myself to be uncomfortable when my feet touched the water, I was surprised to find that my feet remained completely dry despite being in the water. I pulled the lever to the toilet and suddenly felt as though I was falling through a tube. Surprised by this sudden feeling, I immediately closed by eyes and tried to keep myself from screaming.

When I opened them again, I saw that I was standing outside of a fireplace and ahead of me where several busy Ministry workers walking with purpose toward their designated locations. In addition to this, in what appeared to be the atrium, there was a large statue that stood in the center of the room that took me by surprise as I began to slowly walk toward it to get a better look. Hermione, in the body of Mafalda Hopkirk, followed closely behind me as I moved foreword.

Ahead of us was a large, black statue of a witch and a wizard that had the words Magic is Might carved into a plaque on the bottom. Just below were various distraught looking men and women who were cowering in fear from the witch and wizard who stood threateningly above them.

"Are they supposed to be Muggles?" I asked Hermione in a low tone.

She nodded as several witches and wizards passed behind them. Horrified at the image that the Ministry was portraying to all of its workers, we moved on before we were noticed standing there. I wasn't sure where Ron, Harry, and Neville went off to, but we figured that it would be best to not stand around too long to make anyone suspicious. Besides, we didn't have much time before the Polyjuice potion wore off. Not sure of where I was supposed to be, I followed Hermione into a nearby lift that was gradually filling with more people.

When we got to the appropriate floor where Mafalda Hopkirk worked, I followed behind Hermione. We only made it around the corner before we nearly ran into someone else. When we saw who it was, my heart nearly jumped through my chest. Standing there in an overly pink coat and dress was none other than Dolores Umbridge.

"Mafalda!" Umbridge said. "Were you sent this way by Travers?"

"Er...yes," Hermione said while looking over at me.

"Oh, this must be the new intern," Umbridge said while looking at me. "Is she shadowing you?"

Mafalda's face began to turn a little bit pink as she looked over toward me. The woman that I had chosen was apparently as new to the Ministry as I was - which was a good thing for me, but it also didn't help me figure out where exactly I was meant to be with at the moment. That explained why she didn't have any department labeled on her identification.

"I was assigned to work with her for the rest of the week," I said with a smile as I held out my hand to shake hers. "You must be Dolores Umbridge."

Umbridge looked me up and down and had a look of uncertainty on her face. For a moment, she let me stand there with my hand held out to the point that it made me feel slightly uncomfortable. She finally grabbed my hand and gave me a firm handshake while maintaining eye contact.

"Nice to meet you," she said. "You are aware of the work we are doing?"

"Not completely, but I've read about it in the papers," I told her with fake enthusiasm. "It looks like fascinating work."

"Fascinating?" Umbridge asked with a look of surprise. "How so?"

"Oh, well I've always found it strange that Muggle-borns had magical abilities," I lied. "I think it's great that the Ministry is finally looking into it."

"Of course," Umbridge said looking vaguely impressed. "Muggle-borns pose a large threat to our community. I've never trusted them."

Every part of me wanted to just punch her directly in the face, but I knew that my only chance in getting through this to find the Horcrux was to lie through my teeth to make sure she thought I was on her side. Hermione stood next to me with a nervous smile on her face, and I could tell that this conversation was making her feel much more uncomfortable with this entire plan. Umbridge was directly insulting her entire existence right in front of her, but there was nothing that she could do without raising suspicion and revealing that we weren't who we appeared to be.

There was no way that we were going to leave the Ministry without getting that Horcrux from Umbridge.

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