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Chapter Three – Investigations Part 2

Soho Square, London/An Initially Unknown Location

Sunday 13th September 2048

"Trust the Department of Mysteries to make things as complex and conspiratorial as they can," Hermione muttered to herself as she arrived at the southern end of Soho Square.

A call had come through from Derek Callender on the Friday afternoon just as Hermione had arrived home, which aroused Ron's ever-present jealousy that a strange man would be calling Hermione's mobile phone. It had taken long enough for Hermione to understand the convoluted explanation that Callender had given for calling her on her mobile and then to take down the man's directions, but to have to placate Ron afterwards had left her in a bad mood all weekend.

"You know where Soho Square is?" Callender had asked, much to Hermione's annoyance given that she'd walked past it or through it to get to the Ministry entrance on Charing Cross Road enough times.

"Head to the gazebo in the center of the square, then turn north and go past the remains of the statue of Charles II," he'd told her. "Before you get to the park exit on the north side, turn left along the path. Stop when you get to the second bench on your right. I'll meet you there."

Follwing the instructions to the letter, she felt foolish, and she knew that had Ron been in this position he would have been much more aware of his surroundings as this smelled like the sort of trap Aurors were trained to avoid at all costs.

She wasn't as surprised as she might have been therefore, when a voice from close behind her spoke up.

"Mrs Weasley? Or should I say Minister Weasley?"

She turned to see the tall blond man Connie Hammer had shown her the photograph of stood three feet away. His height and chiselled jaw made him look quite formidable, and she could see that some women might find him quite attractive, but there was something of a condescending sneer around his features that completely ruined the look as far as she was concerned.

"Mrs Weasley is just fine, thank you."

"Good. A source established from a high-ranking person you talked to that you wanted to have a discussion about the possibility that a recently deceased colleague might not have been completely happy with how his life was progressing."

"That's a very vague and roundabout way of describing it, I suppose, yes."

"So, it happens that I might know something about that, and I might know someone who could provide you with more information."

"That sounds like good news."

"You might want to wait until you hear the deails before you jump to such a conclusion," Callender sneered. "Care to take a brief stroll around the park before we leave?"

"Leave?"

"Well yes," Callender said slowly. "You didn't think we'd be discussing confidential information out in the open in the middle of London, did you? I thought you were brighter than that."

Hermione coloured slightly at his slur.

"I'm not sure why this would be confidential, Mr Callender," she answered, as they turned to walk in the same direction. "though I can see that it might be considered sensitive."

"I'm afraid that my contact isn't quite as blasé about it, Mrs Weasley. If he were to be revealed as the source of an information leak of this nature, his post might no longer be tenable.

"Very well, then," Hermione agreed. "Where did you have in mind? And why could we not just have met there in the first place?"

"Security."

"I see."

"So if you would take my arm, then once we turn this corner out of obvious sight, I'll whisk you away."

"That sounds like a big risk to me," Hermione said, worriedly, "so let me make it clear to you: my husband is aware that I am meeting with you, and he expects me back reasonably promptly and unharmed. Let me also remind you that should anything... untoward... occur, I would be quite willing to call in all the favours I've built up over the years to bring both you and your 'contact' down, Unspeakable or not. Do I need to go further?"

Callender had clearly expected to be able to intimidate Hermione Perhaps it was his normal modus operandi when deadling with female contacts, but if he was usually unable to make women cower before him, Hermione Weasley was a completely different proposition. The uncertainty in his eyes gave her a strong clue that she wouldn't need to call his bluff, after all.

"No, Mrs Weasley. I think you've made your point," he demurred.

"Very well. Now, I assume you have a Portkey, and it will return me here once we have concluded our liaison with your 'contact'?"

"Yes."

"Then by all means, activate it – nobody is looking this way."

The sensation of a pull behind her navel signified that Callender has done as requested, and the Portkey deposited them in a place that Hermione was actually already familiar with.

She almost giggled as she looked around at the large dimly-lit rectangular room, with tiers of stone benches running around it, and steps leading down between them some twenty feet to a central amphitheatre, where a decrepit stone arch stood unsupported upon a dais in the very middle of the room.

"Seriously?" she asked. "You had me meet you less than a mile from here, only to Portkey us back into the Department of Mysteries? We might just as well have met in my office upstairs."

"There's a reason why she was able to push through so much seemingly unpopular and impossible legislation as Minister, Callender," a dry voice said from behind them. "She's clearly not as naïve as you think she is.

A man in a dark cloak and a heavy cowl stood ten feet away, apparently havin come through the door on hearing their arrival.

"How do you know where we are, Mrs Weasley?" he asked.

"I've been here before, in the Death Chamber," she replied. "I was here when Sirius Black was blasted through the Veil of Death down there by Bellatrix Lestrange, back in 1996. Probably the last time that it is acknowledged in public that anyone went through the Veil, though I'm sure that Unspeakables have done their own, 'top secret', experiements with it, too. It seems fitting that it's Harry's death that has led me here again, given that it was Harry who led me here the first time."

"So it seems," the cloaked man agreed. "And you seek answers to questions around Harry's death just as Harry sought answers around Sirius's."

"I did not know that Harry had been back here," Hermione stated.

"Not here," the man said, waving his arm at the arena, "but to the Department of Mysteries more generally, I should say.

"Anyway, what questions you have of me, I will do my best to answer. If anything can help bring to light the crimes that were perpetrate against Harry Potter then I consider myself willing to assist."

"Thank you."

"Callender, you may leave," the man ordered.

Callender looked reluctant to do so, no doubt wanting to hear more of what Hermione was trying to find out, but it was clear that he wasn't prepared to disobey his instructions, and activated the Portkey.

"You will, of course, be able to find your way out through the Ministry, I imagine, so Callender's intended inconvenience of leaving you without the return Portkey should be a mere trifle. For the purposes of this discussion, you may call me Jeremy, to make matters easier."

"As good an alias as any, I expect," Hermione chuckled.

The man merely nodded in agreement.

"Please be seated," he said, indicating the nearest bench with a wave of his arm, "and tell me how I can be of assistance. I'm aware broadly of your quest, and of course I have already met with Harry Potter on his journey towards some of the answers, but I find it helps if you ask me directly what youwish to know and I can more easily tell you what answers, or otherwise, I might have for you."

Hermione took a deep breath and started to explain what she was looking for as she sat down.

"As you probably know, Harry named me executor of his will, but separately asked me to retrace his footsteps over the last year or so, to discover the things that he had discovered in that timescale, and to draw the relevant conclusions and take appropriate action.

"I've already come to the point where I realise there was something significantly wrong with Harry's life, but I'm still struggling to put things together and to see where the evidence is and what it points to. You've already hinted that you have knowledge of some of this, but I'd like to know what you found when Harry came to you."

Jeremy nodded.

"Very well," he said. "I think you are aware that this might not be a pleasant revelation, so I shan't hold back on that account.

"Harry was pointed in our direction by someone he had met at St Mungo's whilst he was being treated for the nasty dose of Wizard Flu he contracted. My understanding is that this was primarily about a clinical concern that Harry had not recovered anywhere near as quickly as might have been expected given his demonstrated powers over the years. There was also a second revelation, which I will come to later.

"We spent barely an hour examining him to understand that his magic had been blocked."

"What?" Hermione was aghast. "But I've seen him perform magical feats nobody else is capable of!"

"Have you?" Jeremy asked. "Recently?"

"Well..."

"Exactly. Much of what was assumed about Harry's magic is taken from a few isolated incidents from a long time ago, and can largely be explained away by other means.

"Firstly, the initial defeat of Voldemort in October 1981. This is actually an outlier, in that we believe that the block was placed on him after this date, therefore probably isn't relevant to the discussion, but fits into the category of public assumptions about Harry's power.

"In all likelihood, it was actually magic that Lily Potter had placed upon her son that caused the destruction of the former Dark Lord's body at this time. This is supported by the impression we received from the location of Harry's infamous scar, which appears not to have hosted a Horcrux as such, because of a runic protection, but was more of a magical power drain or leech that sent energy to Voldemort.

"Obviously, with the scar more-or-less gone, it's now impossible to tell what that might actually have been, but some assumptions appear to have been made by those who might have known better, and people with appropriate expertise and experience in the matter were never consulted.

"This leads into the second incident – the death of Quirinius Quirrell at Hogwarts in mid-1992."

"In that this was also an artefact of Lily's protection, rather than Harry's power?" Hermione asked.

"Exactly. And let's not even consider that the 'gauntlet' that the three of you supposedly conquered was apparently tailored preceisely for your skills at that age – I can't imagine that any adult witch or wizard would have had the slightest trouble with any of it."

Hermione looked a little bit insulted by that, but was forced to concede that any protection that could be overcome with such relative ease by three First Years probably wasn't of great value.

"So, thirdly," Jeremy continued, "we have the slaying of the 'Monster of Slytherin' in the Chamber of Secrets in mid-1993.

"Leaving aside the point that there were actually no witnesses to what happened, and Basilisk products have not come onto the market in any form – legally or otherwise – as the result of its death, I'm aware that there were no actual massive magical feats performed. Even by Harry's own admission, he stabbed the Basilisk with a sword; he didn't kill it with any spells. In fact, his memory indicates that he didn't even have his wand in his hand at the time.

"Therefore, despite the notoriety, the assumption that this indicated massive magical power is at best a misapprehension, and at worst a deliberate misdirection by somebody.

"Fourthly, the production of a Patronus Charm so powerful that it drove off hundreds of Dementors."

"I was actually there for that one," Hermione confirmed, "and it actually happened. I would be willing to accept that there was a strong psychological element to it, given that Harry had already seen it, and already knew that it would have that effect-"

"As a result of your clandestine use of a Time-turner, I believe," Jeremy interrupted.

"Indeed."

"And I'm prepared to accept that this actually happened too. However, to me, this is the real outlier. I agree that part of it stems from the knowledge that it had already been achieved, but even so, it should theoretically not have been possible. I'll come back to this later, because I think there is an explanation, and it fits with certain other specific examples.

"Next, we have a series of events that I will lump together, being the tasks of the Triwizard Tournament in 1994 and 1995.

"Here we had great examples of some of Harry's other qualities: his amazing flying ability to enable him to obtain the Golden Egg, his strength of character and knowledge of potential threats in both the Second and Third tasks, and his astonishing bravery, willpower, mental tenacity and a fascinating relationship with Lady Luck in the Graveyard at Little Hangleton where he was forced to participate in Voldemort's reincarnation. But through all of this, there was only really one significant feat of magical power."

"When he summoned his broomstick for the First Task?" Hermione asked.

"Exactly. And it's a feat that barely anyone comments on."

"That's true," Hermione pondered. "In fact, we didn't even consider that it might even be a struggle to do so, or that we were trying to teach Harry something improbable – the greater challenge was getting him to learn the spell in the first place."

"And that's because it wasn't much of a feat of power. As long as he knew where his broomstick was and there were no obstructions preventing a free passage to his hand, it was a fairly commonplace action. So once again, no astounding feats of magic, but a strong perception of Harry being a powerful wizard who was able to win the Triwizard Tournament against opponents three years older and more experienced."

"True, and followed up by a completed and utter thrashing in the Daily Prophet simply for speaking the truth that the Minister of Magic didn't want to hear."

"Finally, we come to the final defeat of Voldemort himself," Jeremy said. "All the eyewitness reports simply indicate that the erstwhile Dark Lord died when he cast a Killing Curse that rebounded off Harry's Disarming Hex. Is that true?"

"Yes."

"Then he never actually hit Voldemort with a curse to kill him at all – a simple 'expelliarmus' that never reached its target was the full extent of the power that Harry used to 'vanquish' the Dark Lord."

"But what does that all mean," Hermione asked, slightly confused.

"Simply that in all the years where people thought of Harry as a uniquely powerful wizard, the most significant feats of magical power that he actually did were a Summoning Charm, which we've agreed wasn't particularly special, and a Patronus which had some particular reasoning behind it.

"In fact, it's possible that the use of the Time-turner overrode the blocks on his magic and enabled that one outstanding spell."

Hermione frowned, thinking back across the years. Jeremy was right, there were no instances she could recall of Harry using any particularly powerful magic. Some nice, well-controlled and well-designed spells that created good impressions, but his everyday magic was fairly mundane. She couldn't even recollect Ron mentioing any particularly powerful spells Harry might have used when out in the field as an Auror.

"So... Harry's power is a myth?" Hermione asked. "Or, the blocks simply meant he couldn't access most of his power?"

"Certainly the public perception of Harry's power is a myth – there's no record of him ever performing a spell with significant magical power other than that one Patronus, so from that perspective it's a myth. What he might have been capable of without the blocks is unknowable, as by the time we had the chance to measure what he could do, it would have been far too dangerous for us to remove the blocks.

"The bigger problem for Harry was that with the blocks on for so long, they had grown to an extent that his usable power had dwindled to such a low level that he was almost a Squib."

"But that wouldn't have killed him!" Hermione blurted out.

"No, it wouldn't," Jeremy agreed. "but his lack of magic would definitely have become ever more noticeable over time, and he might have been forced to move away from his magical family in order to live a proper life."

Hermione had something of a realisation – Harry must have been preparing himself for the loss of his magic in setting up his house in Stevenage. There he could re-integrate into the Muggle world fairly seamlessly once he had an established presence. With the right documentation, he could have easily found a job and lived there, but what a step that would have been to take to leave his magical family to do so.

Of course, that wouldn't have stopped Ginny moving in with him, but with her still having magic, it would have been much more difficult for them to keep that unnoticed by the neighbours.

"Do you know when the blocks were placed on him?"

"Not precisely," the Unspeakable admitted. "But based on the level of power they were absorbing and had absorbed from Harry over the years it was almost certainly after Hallowe'en 1981, and definitely well before he started at Hogwarts."

"And we assume that it was Albus Dumbledore who applied them?"

"There wasn't anything we could find that could prove who it might have been, given that more than half a century had passed. It seems unlikely that anyone else with the skill or motive to cast anything on Harry would have had the opportunity to do so in that time period, but from a completely forensic point of view, it can't be ruled out that somebody else was responsible."

"But why would he do that, anyway?"

"Well, that's well beyond my ability to speculate upon, but perhaps learning more about the second issue we ran into might provide enlightenment."

"I'm not sure I'm able to process all you've told me already, let alone any further shocks!"

Jeremy grunted with suppressed laughter, but continued in any case.

"You are aware of the Prophecy around the 'vanquishing' of the Dark Lord, I assume?"

"The one about Harry? Yes."

"Hmm. Well that's the thing. Prophecies are normally so vague that what they actually mean is usually determined in hindsight once actions have already happened. That this one is supposed to have identified the subjects so clearly is rather unusual, and seems down to a specific person's interpretation, rather than studied and objective consideration."

"You mean we're back to Dumbledore again?"

"And, once again, it's not my place to speculate, but he seems the most likely candidate given that he was the recipient of the Prophecy in the first place.

"However, there must be doubt as to whether Harry Potter was indeed the subject of the Prophecy, given that it doesn't conclusively identify him."

"But he was born at the end of July to parents who had defied Voldemort three times," Hermione protested, "and was 'marked' when Voldemort tried to kill him the following Hallowe'en."

"Potentially all true," Jeremy agreed amiably, "But it pre-supposes several things that aren't necessarily in evidence: firstly that the Prophecy referred to the seventh month of the Gregorian calender, rather than, say, the Julian calendar which would put the relevant birth at the end of September, or the Astrological calender, which would mean mid-to-late November. It also doesn't indicate which year the birth will occur, only that the 'one with the power' is approaching.

"Secondly, that Voldemort was in fact the Dark Lord that was referred to, and thirdly, relating to what we've already discussed, what the specific power was that would defeat Voldemort."

"Dumbledore always said that it was love," Hermione suggested.

"Which has multiple potential issues when applied here," Jeremy countered, "given the nature of the Dark Lord's actual defeat and the lack of any particularly demonstrable power employed by Harry to effect it."

"The last thing which throws some doubt on the interpretation we are aware of, is that the orbs containing the Prophecy that are kept in the Department are supposed to be unbreakable unless the Prophecy has been fulfilled.

"We know that this particular Prophecy was in fact picked up by Harry Potter in June 1996, on the night that you previously referred to, Mrs Weasley, and that it was also handled and dropped by Neville Longbottom – a potential alternate candidate for the subject of the Prophecy, I should note – in this very room, where it shattered.

"That doesn't necessarily mean that Harry was not the subject of the Prophecy, it just means that it was already fulfilled. This could have been on Hallowe'en 1981, for example, or on the death of Quirinius Quirrell, if we were to take the line about 'either must die at the hand of the other' literally. There could have been many points where it was fulfilled, but from an evidential perspective it wasn't in May 1998 as the Prophecy had already been fulfilled by June 1996."

"So what does that mean?" Hermione asked.

"I'm afraid I don't know," Jeremy sighed. "I don't have all the pieces to your puzzle, I'm afraid, Mrs Weasley. Like Harry did, you'll have to find others who also hold clues. That might not be easy, as these events happened so long ago, and some key players are no longer with us, so you will have to make do with those who still are."

Hermione sighed.

"I had a feeling this wasn't going to be straightforward," she said.

DOHPDOHPDOHPDOHP

Hogsmeade

Tuesday 15th September 2048

One of the side-effects of having been Minister of Magic, Hermione found, was that there were always plenty of people who were prepared to give you their opinion and advice, whether you wanted it or not, from the least, jobless layabout to former and successor Ministers.

Hermione was glad for once that this was the case, as it enabled her to take advantage of the opportunity to talk to one of her predecessors, now getting on in age and normally reluctant to take visitors at all.

Millicent Bagnold had been Minister for Magic from 1980 to 1990, and therefore it was she who had been in office at the time of Voldemort's downfall on Hallowe'en in 1981. Hermione was keen to get a version of events from her, to see how it stacked up with what she already knew and what she (and Harry before her) might have suspected. Well into her fourteenth decade, Bagnold still had a very agile mind, and had been willing to speak it to Hermione about decisions she had made during her tenure, both for the good and the bad, and Hermione hoped that she would still be willing to do so now.

Despite having Floo-called in advance to warn that she was intending to visit, Hermione was surprised to be greeted at the door of Bagnold's cottage in Hogsmeade. Given her physical decrepitude, it must have taken the old lady a good ten minutes just to make it from her living room to the door.

"Hello, my dear," she greeted Hermione as she stepped up onto the porch.

"Hello Millicent," Hermione said. "Are you well?"

"About as well as can be expected at my age, dear. I'm still alive and still have my wits about me, that's the important thing. Now, it's a nice day, so let's sit out here and talk to save me going back indoors just yet. It took me long anough to get out here," she said with a cackle, "I might as well enjoy it now I'm here!"

Hermione helped her to the bench on the porch, looking out over what had once been rather an extensive garden, but she knew that Bagnold had asked for it to be pulled up and replaced with grass once she realised that she was no longer able to care for all the plants.

"I was sorry to hear about young Potter," she said. "The news gets up here pretty quickly these days. I imagine it's about him that you're here?"

"Yes. I'm trying to piece together something of a conspiracy he's left me behing to puzzle over, and I could use your help in re-creating some of the picture."

"Well, I'll tell you what I know, but I never had much involvement with him, you know. He didn't even start Hogwarts until after I had stepped down as Minister, so I'm not sure what I can help with."

"It's actually going back to Hallowe'en 1981 that I need help with," Hermione said. "You may know more than you realise.

"What can you tell me about the story of that night? How did it become public record?"

Bagnold sighed deeply.

"That's a long time ago, dearie," she said with a huff. "People were celebrating and things may have gotten a bit out of order in my memory. Let me think."

She paused a moment.

"I think the first I knew about what had happened was early on the morning of 1st November. It wasn't even light yet, as I recall, and my Undersecretary – Howard, I think his name was – Floo called me just as I was getting dressed and insisted I had to come quick as there was an emergency.

"I Flooed straight through to my office as soon as I was dressed, and Howard and Albus Dumbledore were already there waiting for me."

"Was this unusual?" Hermione asked. "I mean, Dumbledore used to be in and out of Fudge's office all the time when he was Minister..."

"No, not at all," Bagnold replied. "In fact, I don't think I saw much of Dumbledore in those days until after that point. He was busy running his so-called Order of the Phoenix on top of his other duties at Hogwarts and on the Wizenganmot, and I would only really come across him if I had to be present at meetings of the last.

"Afterwards it was completely different though, as we had to put a case to the International Confederation of Wizards about all the breaches of the Statute of Secrecy that had occurred when people found out they were safe from You-Know-Who.

"Anyway, Dumbledore ushered Howard back out into the corridor once he saw I had arrived, and told me that You-Know-Who had been defeated. I was a little taken aback and sceptical initially, but he was insitent that the infant Harry Potter had caused a Killing Curse to reflect back on him, and we needed to act quickly in order to get a clear and consistent message out to the public.

"Obviously I agreed with that, and so he told me what had happened in Godric's Hollow – that James and Lily Potter had been killed by You-Know-Who, but that Harry had survived and the Dark Lord was gone."

"He didn't mention how he knew all of this, I suppose?" Hermione wondered aloud.

"Merlin, no!" Bagnold chortled. "You don't see Albus Dumbledore actually explaining himself, do you? He said he would make sure that Harry was taken somewhere safe to grow up, and that it would be best for him to be out of the public eye, but I can't imagine how he would have managed that. We put together a statement that I sent to the press and I sent it around Ministry staff for their information as well, and that was about it."

"What about all the books that have been written about him? Where did they get their information from, then?"

"I've no idea, Hermione. Not from me, that's for certain, since I hardly knew anything out it anyway. Most of it must have been speculation or based on what the Daily Prophet came up with to make things sound interesting.

"I'll be honest, I thought you were mad taking them on with that libel law you got introduced a few years back, but it does seem to have reined them in somewhat."

"And the photos of him that appeared in the Prophet before he went to Hogwarts? Where did they come from?"

"Again, I've no clue, dearie. I assumed his guardians had released them officially. It wasn't something that came through Ministry channels. Maybe the Prophet just asked people to send in something?"

"They were a bit too accurate for that," Hermione said, wondering who might have supplied them.

"Were you involved at all with trials of Death Eaters after the war?" Hermione asked, changing subject slightly.

"Not very much," she replied. "Barty Crouch covered most of that. We agreed that it was import I be seen as impartial, in case any appeals came in."

"So you knew nothing about Sirius Black getting sent to Azkaban?"

"Only what I had heard from others. I had assumed he'd been found guilty and sentenced. Nobody mentioned anything about him not having had a trial until about fifteen years later."

Hermione deiced that she'd exhausted the questions that she had for the former Minister, and started to make her farewells.

"Thanks for your help. I guess I've got a few threads to pick up elsewhere," she stated.

"I'm sure they'll wait until tomorrow, dear." Bagnold said. "Stay and tell me what else is going on in the world."