Sleeping Dragons

Chapter Seven: Changing Tides
By Gemini

Lucius' revelations spawned quite a few comments from my teammates.

“Aw, bloody hell.” Ron, blunt as always.

“They're going to rule with Voldemort?” asked Sirius sharply. “How is that possible!?”

“Voldemort again?” moaned Harry. “He's been defeated twice. When are they going to realize he's a loser?”

“When are we getting a new villain?“ Cho grumbled.

The scenes in the Pensieve turned to our arrival and freeing Draco, so Dumbledore stopped it from showing us any more.

“Draco, can you tell us what you know of Lucius' plans?”

“I don't know much,” Draco said, looking down at the table.“Only what he's happened to tell me.” He seemed a bit embarrassed, as if it was somehow his fault.

“It's alright,” reassured Dumbledore. “Just tell us what you can about the past week.”

“Avery, another Death Eater, came in a few days ago dragging Black's body into the cell opposite mine. I tried to talk to him, but the charm on my cell didn't allow anyone to see or hear me.My father came hours later and told me what happened. Black had come upon the hideout in Bulgaria and was about to go back to the Auror camp.My father knocked him out and took a few of his hairs to put in some Polyjuice Potion.”

“Why would your father have Polyjuice Potion with him?” Marcy asked.

Draco looked a little blank while I already figured out the answer.“Lucius is on the run, right?It would make sense if he had the Potion handy in case he was near civilization. At the very least, he would at least draw attention away from himself and towards Draco, who no one would ever find.” He looked a little surprised about my revelation.Then again, he probably didn't remember that I was often reffered to as “Know-It-All Granger” back at Hogwarts.

“Let's get back to the Voldemort part again,” said Remus. “How exactly are they going to bring him back?”No one else had an answer.I thought back to what Lucius had said, fully digesting his words. A sickening feeling crept up my throat.

“By Avada Kedavra,” I whispered. “My research...” I knew exactly what Lucius had.

I had my research was practically memorized -- something I found easy to do. “It was all about Avada Kedrava. I think...” I trailed off as I tried to think of how Lucius was going to do it.He must have...

“Hermione!”

I snapped out of my thoughts only to find Ron and everyone else at the table staring at me. “Sorry,” I said, flustered.

“Your research, Hermione?” asked Dumbledore gently.

“Right.Yes, well, it was on a recent breakthrough at the Ministry in my department. I didn't present it to the U.A.A. yet because it's not quite finished.There are a few touch-ups that need to be done.”

“Well, I think it's a good idea you present it now,” said Sirius, though not unkindly. I nodded.

“Alright.As you know, we discovered that Avada Kedavra kills people by annihilating their soul, correct?” The others nodded. “Well, we've got a new idea that proves otherwise. One of the members of my department formulated a theory that instead of annihilating the soul, Avada Kevrada just... sent it somewhere else.”

The others looked dubious. “Er... where?” asked Owen.

I started speaking again, a little flustered. “We're a little unsure on this part, but we're thinking another plane of existence, sort of like an afterlife. Anyway, as soon as he gave us the theory, we began to see how it made sense. We took all the information we had on different planes of existences and came up with the idea that my report is based upon.” I paused so they could reflect upon what I had said, then plunged into the shocker.“We've managed to create a Counterpotion to give Avada Kedavra victims their soul back.”

“A Counterpotion?”

“How would that even work?”

“I can't believe it!”

Dumbledore listened quietly.

I went on. “The Counterpotion is a vital part of the Counterspell. It works by distributing itself through the body. It has strong and rare ingredients that are commonly used in potions pertaining to life and death.” Here I stopped for a minute before continuing. What I said next was quite unbelievable to myself even after doing so much research on it. “The ingredients... 'call' upon the body's former soul, bringing it back into this plane of existence, back to life.”

“Is that all?” asked Ron weakly. “I thought it was just going to be something completely unbelievable.”I ignored him. His sarcasm was always at its highest during a tense situation.

“The spell takes an incredibly high level of magic. It bridges this world to the next and the bridge must not be harmed or disturbed in any way. Needless to say, this is a complicated spell and should not be attempted by an amateur.We've already researched a few places where this attempt could be made, and there aren't many.”

“And this is how Lucius Malfoy is going to bring back Voldemort?” asked Harry.His face was pale.

“Yes, but there's one catch. The soul that is brought back will be weak. Lucius would need to keep Voldemort sheltered and out of the way after he's brought back.”

“So we have his plan. What now?” asked Owen.

“Now, we need a plan,” said Harry firmly. “And a location.And Lucius' schedule.”

“We also need some protection. What if Voldemort comes back and he's stronger than we expected?” asked Cho.She turned to me. “And how do you know this will really work?”

I sighed. I knew I'd have to tell them eventually. “Tests.We've tested wizards.” Everyone looked shocked. We got the permission from their relatives. They knew full well what they were getting into. But we couldn't...” I trailed off.

“Are these people alive now?”

“No.Like I said, their souls were weak.They no longer belonged in this world.We had to take them out of the bodies again,” I explained solemnly. “Voldemort would be different. He's stronger than these four wizards put together.”

“We have to stop the Death Eaters,” said Tony, determined.

“How?”

“A plan, location, and schedule,” Harry repeated. “Oh, and protection.”

“The location and schedule I'm sure we could work out,” I said.“Protection's easy.”

“So, location?”

“Somewhere magical. Lucius can't just do this spell just anywhere. It has to be somewhere where the bridge is thinner.”

Dumbledore spoke up. “There is a list of such places in our library. Would anyone care to go look?”

Cho stood up. “We'll go,” she said, gesturing to Tony, Ella and herself.

“As for the schedule...” Dumbledore continued. We were in what Ron liked to call 'full agent mode.'

Patrick spoke up. “We'll work it out.It's all strategy anyway.As long as we get a copy of Hermione's research though. We'll need it for information.” He turned to me.“I assume you made a copy?”

“Yes, one or two are in the Ministry vaults. I even have a copy in the U.A.A. vault, just in case.”

Dumbledore nodded. “Alright.Cho, Tony, Ella... I'm sure you'll find the libraries to be stock full of information. Patrick, Marcy, Owen... Work on Lucius' plans. Ask around Knockturn Alley, I'm sure you'll find some answers there. Harry, Ron, Hermione... Go with them to Knockturn Alley. You'll find items for Dark Arts protection there. And that will give Hermione a chance to get her research.” He turned to me. “Don't take it from the Ministry. You'll attract attention. Go to Gringotts instead. And do you remember any of the ingredients from the spell?”

“I can remember all of them,” I answered.

“Good.Write out a short list for Patrick so he can ask around Knockturn Alley for anyone who's purchased these items.And write out another list for Cho so she can have a bit of guidance on what locations to look for.”

“What can we do?” asked Sirius.

“You and Remus can contact other Agents. We'll need a lot for this one. We can't take chances...”

“What about me?” interrupted Draco.

“Are you certain you want to be involved in this?”

“I've been involved since I was sixteen.” Draco's eyes had no hint of emotion attached.

“Go with Cho's team. We can't afford to have you out in public yet.”

He turned his attention back to all of us. “We'll regroup back at the discussion room at one o'clock.Will that be enough time?”We nodded. “Good luck then.”

* * *

“Alright, see you later.” Marcy waved at us as she left in the opposite direction with Patrick and Owen.I waved back. We watched as they went into Borgin and Burkes, then Harry turned to me and Ron.

“Look, I need to go owl Ginny and tell her I won't be home today.”He sighed. “We've been engaged less than a week and she's already getting suspicious and asking where I'm going to be all the time.At least when we were living together normally, she was a little lenient.”

“Don't worry, Harry,” said Ron, clapping him on the shoulder.“She'll come around.”

I shot at a disbelieving look at my two best friends. “'She'll come around?' I think she deserves a bit more than that, don't you?”

Ron waved away my comment while dispensing some brotherly advice to Harry.“You'll work it out one day.Trust me, Ginny won't do anything rash.Just go and owl her now.Me and Hermione will wait at Fleur's.”

“Actually, dear,” I said sweetly, “you go with Harry to the Owlery and I'll head to Gringotts.”

I swung my purse over my shoulder and walked away, leaving behind a dejected Ron and laughing Harry.

On my way out of Knockturn Alley and toward Gringotts, I was nearly bowled over by a news boy, shouting, “Get your copy of the Daily Prophet here! Only five Knuts!”

I turned down a copy because I had my own subscription, but I overheard a few wizards and witches discussing that day's news.

“Another one? We haven't had one in years! Imagine that...”

I was curious to know what they were talking about, but I had no time.I quickened my pace toward Gringotts.When it came into sight, I noticed a large crowd gathered at the bottom of the steps. There were a large number of goblins trying to hold back the throng of wizards.

“What's going on here?” I asked a witch who seemed to be near my age.

“Haven't you read the Prophet? There's been a break-in. They won't let us in, but we need to get our stuff!”

I exhaled frustratingly. Wait a second...

I pushed my way toward the mass, which, believe me, is hard to do if you're a small person. I approached a mean-looking goblin and tapped him on the shoulder. “Is there any way I can get in?”

“No there isn't, Ma'am.. Please, just step away. The issue is currently being resolved.”

I pulled my Ministry card out of my purse. “I'm with the Ministry. Maybe I can help?”

After a suspicious glance, he called to another goblin, “Hey, I'm taking this one in, alright? She's with the Ministry.”

I followed him inside (“Hey, why does she get to go in?”) and was taken to a gathering of goblins and Ministry wizards. I saw Percy and Bill off to the side, and quickly turned my head so they wouldn't see me.

“Which vault was broken into?” I asked.

“Vault one thousand seventy-three,” the goblin replied. I froze.

“The U.A.A. vault?” I said, a bit disbelievingly.

He whipped his head around quickly, pulled me to the side and hissed, “How do you know about that?”

I dug into my purse again and pulled out my other card. I showed to him undisguised -- a dark blue identification card with yellow writing. He raised an eyebrow at the interesting colouring but I simply shrugged.Ron's was green, but I had never seen Harry's. I mean, our ID cards weren't something to be passed around carelessly. Come to think of it though, Cho's was blue too.

He took my arm and led me to the side door which I had entered just a few days ago. We made our way through the familiar route, finally stopping at the vault labeled “1073.”A few empty carts were already parked in front. The door was already open, and I saw that there were more goblins and Ministry wizards milling around when I stepped inside.

“How did they get in?” I asked. “What did they take?”

Before the goblin could answer, I heard a familiar voice calling my name.

“Hermione!What are you doing here?”Arthur Weasley strode toward me.

“Hello Arthur! I was just here to help investigate,” I responded, desperately hoping he would believe me.“We thought maybe a Dark Wizard broke in...”

“Good, good,” he said absentmindedly. “I'm sure you'll figure out who it is, my dear. Now if you'll excuse me, I really can't talk long.”

“I understand,” I assured him. He went off again to talk to the other Ministry wizards.

The goblin who brought me there had gone to speak with the others, so I made my way toward the shelves where I knew my research was kept. I grabbed the packet of papers and quickly stuffed them into my purse. I turned to leave, but something caught my eye. Where there should have been four vials of red liquid, there were only three. I picked up the remaining three vials and checked their casings. It clicked into place.Lucius.

* * *

“Hermione, you're back!”

After fifteen minutes of frantically searching for Ron and Harry, I found them sitting with the other team at Fleur's cafe. I desperately wanted to tell them what I found, but I couldn't -- there were too many people around. It would have to wait. I'd just tell them later, when we all regrouped. It'd save time, anyway. And I wouldn't have to go through the ordeal twice...

“Did you get what you need?” asked Owen.

“Got it,” I said, patting my bag. “How much time do we have left?” I impatiently pushed a few loose strands of hair out of my face.

“Enough for a nice lunch,” replied Ron. He glanced at me, then to Fleur who was serving some customers, then back at me. After what looked like a fierce internal debate, he sighed heavily. “So, where do you want to eat?”

I smiled as I sat down beside him. “Right here is fine,” I said, kissing him on the cheek.

We spent the next forty minutes chatting. I would have rather compared notes and see what the others had found out, but we had to take some precaution.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, we went back to Headquarters.Of course, we couldn't Apparate directly inside the building so we Apparated about five-minute walk away outside.I discreetly tried to hurry them along the forest path, but they just wanted to take it easy, much to my annoyance.The final straw was when Owen told me to “stop and smell the roses” along the trail. I grabbed him, then whoever was on my other side, and proceeded in pulling them toward the grand estate as fast as possible.

Upon reaching the discussion room, there were a few more Agents milling around outside the door. I had never known who the other Agents were besides Ron, Harry, Remus and Sirius.Of course, I saw a few walking around the hallways sometime, but I never found out their names. Cho was the first who I recognized.

We said a polite hello to the few Agents who were leaning against the wall, then stepped inside the large discussion room where more Agents were talking in groups of threes. Immediately we made our way to Cho, Tony, Ella and Draco. Sirius and Remus were in a conversation at the back of the room.I noticed Draco was receiving a some confused looks and glares from the other Agents. Many of them I didn't recognize, but some of the ones I recognized from Hogwarts were Justin Finch-Fletchley, Terry Boot and Susan Bones, among others. I didn't know Terry and Susan as well as Justin, but I gave them a distracted smile anyway.

Dumbledore stepped in a few minutes later and the buzz stopped. The Agents in the hall came inside and the last one in shut the door.

“Hello, everyone. Please, have a seat.”Each of us took a seat, filling up the three quarters of the chairs. Dumbledore took a spot at the front of the room behind a small podium.

“Some of you already know why you are here,” he said, looking down at where I was sitting with the Harry, Ron and the others. “Most of you do not. What you are about to hear this afternoon may shock you, but believe me, it is the truth.” He began a detailed explanation of what we had gone through since Draco's, or rather Lucius', appearance in Bulgaria. I was tapped my foot impatiently until Ron put a hand on my knee to calm me down.

Dumbledore outlined the events so far. Slowly, the other Agents stopped giving Draco such angry glares. When Dumbledore reached the point where I began to explain my research, he stopped and asked, “Hermione, would you care to come up here and explain?”

I stepped up to the small podium and looked out at the Agents.I wanted to talk about what I had found earlier, but unfortunately it wasn't time yet. Instead, I launched into a detailed description, much like the one I did earlier that morning. This time, I had the aid of my research to guide me.

Finally, it was time to present our findings. Cho's team went first, accompanied by Draco.

“We've narrowed down the field to two places,” Tony began. “Stonehenge and Callanish.”

“We honestly don't know which Lucius will use,” said Ella.“Either of the two places is likely.The other places that were candidates were either too far away or the bridge wasn't weak enough to perform the spell.”

“Stonehenge, as you all know, is in Southern England on the Salisbury Plain.Since it's very high profile, Lucius might not want to use it,” said Cho. “However, it is the place where the bridge is weakest in this world. Callanish isn't as weak, but it would still be more than suitable for Lucius' plans. It's located on the island of Lewis in Scotland, in the Outer Hebrides.”

“How will we know which place to go?” asked an Agent near the back row.She seemed a little subdued by the sudden onslaught of information.

“We don't. We were thought we could split up the teams. Half of us could go to Stonehenge, the other half to Callanish. When Lucius shows up at one of them, that team can send a messenger to the other teams so they can Apparate back.”

“And how do we know that Lucius will definitely be at one of these two places?”

“Common sense,” replied Tony. “The Death Eaters will definitely want a place that will make it easier for them.There are only a few places like that around this area, and they can't really transport Voldemort's body to the other weak areas, like Egypt. The few other places are either too strong so there would be danger in the spell, or only weak at certain points in the year, which we aren't anywhere near.”

Patrick's team was up next.

“Someone has definitely been purchasing these items from Knockturn Alley,” Owen said. “Lucius only received the information two days ago, and he's already getting ready.”

“We do have a small lead, though. The person who has been buying these items is reported as being very impatient, like he needs these ingredients right away. We know it must be Lucius because he bought them all last night,” said Patrick.

“Most of the ingredients can only be used at a certain time -- the full moon,” revealed Marcy. “And unfortunately, if you can believe it, that's tonight.”

Tonight? We had no time! It was like a nightmare coming to life, without any time for us to react. Apparently the others were thinking the same thing.A low rumbling had spread throughout the room, and I could hear a few angry whispers. Marcy continued. “He's been planning for a few days now, but he'll be prepared for tonight, definitely.”But will we? I wondered.

Dumbledore took his place at the podium again as Patrick's team sat down.

“Now we have everything we need. All that is left is to formulate a plan,” he said. Finally! I could speak! I had to hand it to him too; he seemed very calm and patient for knowing that an old enemy was about to arise.

Quickly, before he could say anything else, I put up my hand.

“Yes, Hermione?”

“Sir, I think I may know a bit more about Lucius' plans that we do now.”Ron and Harry gave me a curious look.

“You do?” asked Dumbledore. I nodded.

Smiling, as if he expected this of me, he said, “Why don't you come up here and explain?”

I stepped up to the podium for the second time that day, and began to outline what I had discovered at Gringotts.