Golden Age by black_blade

Chapter 33: Chapter Thirty-Three

"Harry!"

Harry started from reading his book and looked up to see Dean Albert at the doors of the Hall. He quickly stood from his seat as the man hurried forward, out of breath and flushed in the cheeks. The Great Hall went quiet around them before the noise picked back up.

"What?" Harry snapped as he hurried from his seat.

"The Ministry," Albert gasped and Harry quickly threw up a silencing charm around them. "You-Know-Who!"

"Slow down," Harry offered as he grabbed the thin man's shoulder. "What has happened?"

"You-Know-Who appeared in the Auror Department," Albert puffed as he laid his hands on his knees, it looked like he'd run all the way up here from the castle gates. "He's taken control there and is working his way through the Ministry. Some have managed to get out and we were lucky that he chose after hours to attack-"

"Are there Death Eaters?"

"Yes," Albert replied. "We're not sure how he was able to get around the wards but he has. We have sent out a warning to any Ministry worker and are gathering any Aurors that were not at the Ministry at the time."

"Greengrass?"

"He's safe," Albert told him.

Harry stood back as he glanced around the Hall. The students were hissing between each other while Albus stood at his seat and was watching them. Then the owls arrived, hundreds of them. Harry lowered the silencing wards and gently coxed Albert to a seat at the Hufflepuff table. He grabbed up a glass and poured him some water.

"We can't do anything at the moment," Harry told Albert as the man drank the water. "Is the Department locked down?"

"Yes," Albert replied. "That is the safest place in the Ministry at the moment."

The students went silent around them as Harry grabbed up one of the notes that the owls had delivered.

Effective immediately; all magical persons are restricted in all movements unless they have an exemption. Stay where you are and do not leave. The Ministry of Magic has been locked down and all magical institutions, villages or shopping areas have been locked. Do not leave your homes or businesses. Ministry code 404.

"Professor Swift?" Albus called out over the hall.

Harry threw the note back down on the table in disgust. His eyes running over the students and the fear on the air. All that note would do was cause panic and it wasn't even the end of the school year. He sighed as Severus came to stand beside him with James, Sirius, Remus and Lily on the other side of him.

"Fuck," Harry swore and Albert nodded in agreement.

"Professor Swift," Albus called again.

Harry glanced up at the Headmaster but he couldn't shake the thought that Lucius Malfoy had been right. The Dark Lord had been planning something at the Ministry. They'd been warned and yet had still been blindsided.

xXx

Harry sat at the back of the large warehouse with Severus to his left and Albus to his right. The place was packed with Aurors and other people as everyone scrambled to get information on how Voldemort had just taken the Ministry of Magic. They were here to work out how to handle the situation and get back what they'd just lost.

Greengrass stood at the front of the room with floorplans of the Ministry of Magic on a board. Paper planes flew around as information came in from both people still in the Ministry and out. From reports, the takeover had started in the Auror Department and spread from there. As far as they could tell, Voldemort hadn't taken over the main entrance and people were still getting out but it wouldn't be long until that was stopped.