The Name in Red **COMPLETE**

Hello everyone! Here is chapter 14. Sorry to keep you waiting once again.

Enjoy!


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The Name in Red.

Chapter 14: The Heist.
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Somewhere within the foggy realm that exists between consciousness and dreaming, there was a terrible racket.

Bang. Bang. Bang.

Sarah winced. It sounded like there was a jackhammer working away inside her head.

Bang. Bang. Bang.

She groaned. Every time the racket was made, her head would throb painfully. She barely managed to open her eyes. Everything looked cloudy. She was more tired than she could ever remember being. She was also extremely thirsty.

Bang. Bang. Bang.

She groaned again. Was this part of that crazy new kind of alcohol she had drank, to implant loud phantom noises inside of her mind? Shoving her pillow over her head, she closed her eyes again. Mercifully, the racket seemed to have stopped. She sighed in relief. This relief was short-lived, for she nearly sprang out of bed in surprise when there came an unexpected touch on her arm. Through her clouded vision, she could make out someone with a bespectacled face and untidy black hair standing before her bed. She relaxed.

"Sarah," said Harry, "Are you alright? You look awful."

Sarah rubbed her eyes. When she opened them again to look at Harry, her vision had mostly focused.

"I feel awful," she affirmed.

"I've been knocking for a couple minutes," Harry explained, "I got worried and decided to come in when you didn't answer. You had quite a lot to drink last night."

"I know," Sarah sighed. "Way too much."

Her thirst suddenly became overwhelming. Climbing out of bed, she made her way past Harry into her small bathroom. Facing the sink, she turned on the tap and bowed her head under the faucet, drinking greedily. Concerned, Harry peered around the corner into the bathroom to watch his friend stick her head under the sink.

"Is there anything I can get you?" he called to her. If she were feeling too unwell, he might have to call off their little adventure until next weekend.

When Sarah had enough to drink, she turned off the tap and straightened up, wiping her mouth on the sleeve of her robe. Her thirst was temporarily banished. That was one problem solved. The other, a terribly throbbing pain in her head, still remained. She turned and left the bathroom, facing her friend.

"Not unless you can bring me some kind of super magical cure for...," she trailed off mid sentence. As she did, her eyes fell onto her night stand where, next to her small bottle of Amortentia, was a dark-colored bottle of unknown liquid which Snape had given her last night. Eager for any kind of relief, she scrambled over to it. Harry watched her curiously.

Snatching up the bottle, she uncorked it and immediately drank it down. In her haste, she was able to mostly ignore the potion's taste. It couldn't have tasted too good; its scent was reminiscent of rubbing alcohol. As soon as she swallowed, her head seemed to clear, and her vision focused entirely back to normal. The terrible, throbbing pain in her head faded away. Her thirst, which had quickly begun creeping back in the few short moments in which she strayed from the sink, disappeared. She blinked. Apparently there was some kind of super magical cure for bad hangovers.

Harry watched as Sarah drank down the unknown potion. At first he flinched, thinking that she had grabbed the Amortentia, but he saw that it was a different bottle. As soon as she finished drinking, she looked to have entirely regained her composure. She appeared normal now, a far cry from the sorry state in which Harry had first found her.

He furrowed his brows. Last night, as he recalled, he only noticed a single bottle in her room, which he knew to be her Amortentia. Where had this second bottle come from? She only had her own potionmaking supplies as of last night, and she wouldn't have been in any state to brew a potion when she returned to her room. As far as he knew, the Room of Requirement could not simply create consumable things like this. If he were to ask Hermione, he was sure it probably had something to do with Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration. Several months previously, this had been the driving force behind the tunnel which formed to the Hog's Head.

Where had she gotten a hangover cure? A few suspicions formed in his mind, the forerunners of which were that she had gone to the hospital wing in the night, or that she had seen Snape sometime between now and when he had left her. He sincerely hoped that the latter was incorrect. He didn't even want to imagine what might have happened if a drunken Sarah stumbled into Snape's arms late at night.

"Sarah," Harry began quietly, "What was that you just drank?"

Sarah held the small bottle out at arm's length, raising it to eye level. She inspected it; it didn't appear that she quite knew what it was, either.

"I'm not really sure," she said. "Severus gave it to me last night, I think he said something about..."

Red light. She did not complete her sentence.

Sarah's eyes widened, and her face immediately colored. She choked. Turning to Harry, she searched his face for his reaction. Not only had she just called Professor Snape by his first name in front of him, but she had accidentally admitted to seeing him last night, too.

Harry's eyes widened as well. Severus? Since when did she call him Severus? It had always been Professor Snape, never Severus. Sarah had also just admitted to seeing him last night. He pondered the situation. Had whatever happened last night put the two of them on a first-name basis? He was a little surprised, but he wasn't about to judge her. He watched her silently; when she was comfortable enough, she would speak.

When Harry didn't jump all over what she had said, Sarah set the small empty bottle down on her night stand and spoke again.

"I went to see him last night, after you left," she admitted openly. "I don't really know what I was thinking. I just sort of ended up there."

Harry nodded understandingly, but he wasn't about to ask the next thing on his mind.

"Nothing happened," she said, almost as if she could sense his question. She sat down on her bed. "He knew I was drunk."

Harry smiled.

"It was sort of hard to miss, yeah," he said.

"Well maybe if someone hadn't been so late, I wouldn't have gotten so plastered," Sarah replied. "Now, are you going to tell me what you found out, or what?"

"Yes," said Harry, turning one of the fireplace chairs to face the bed, and sitting down. "And I told you, I got stuck in a lift, it's not like I could help it."

"I know," said Sarah. "I was just giving you a hard time."

"Well," Harry started, "I actually got stuck in the lift with the same bloke I picked out to use for our little sneak-in. His name is Edward Skyvale. He works in the Obliviator Headquarters, and he has a little key that gives him access to the record hall."

"Record hall?"

"Right," said Harry. "While I was looking around, I found the place where they keep everything. I saw him go into it, and I followed him. I took a peek at a file, and it looks like they keep files for everyone involved in an Obliviation incident, whether they're the cause of it, or the people whose memories needed modifying. The ordering system is pretty straightforward. If there is a file in there with your name on it, I should be able to find it fairly quickly."

"What did the file look like?" Sarah asked, eager for more information on what Harry had seen.

"It looked pretty plain," he explained, "And it listed a bunch of stuff out, like the person's name, the date of the thing that happened, and what the Obliviators had to do to them. There's one thing that will be of particular interest to us though."

"What's that?"

"There is a line on the file," he went on, "That identifies whether or not the person is a witch or wizard."

Sarah gasped a little.

"That means...," she started tentatively, "That means, if we find a file for me...,"

"If we find a file for you, and it says 'Witch' on it, we'll know that somebody knew, yes," Harry finished for her.

Sarah stared at Harry blankly. Her pulse quickened. It seemed as if all the answers were sitting just out of her reach. This new exhilaration drove away any fear or apprehension she still had about actually pulling this off.

"When are we going?" she asked Harry, sounding serious.

"Edward gets in every day around eleven, and it looks like he uses the same entrance that we used last time. They haven't changed it yet, it looks as if they're still not letting people Apparate directly in and out," said Harry. He raised his arm, glancing at his starry watch. It was just after nine. They would have to leave relatively soon in order to start staking out. "We'll leave in about an hour."

Sarah took a deep breath, a little nervousness creeping back into her.

"How are we going to do this?" she asked.

"What I'm thinking is," Harry started, "We'll be waiting outside nearby the entrance. When he appears, I'm going to confund him, and then I want you to stun him right away."

"Stun him, too?" Sarah asked. "Isn't that a little overboard? Besides, I don't know if you want me to stun him, I'll probably end up seriously injuring him," she said quietly, still not completely confident in her ability to fully control her power when stunning.

"The longer he's out, the better, honestly," said Harry. "I'll confund him, so once he comes to, he'll be too confused to do anything or get into work. The potion will only last for about an hour, so that should keep him occupied for more than we need."

"And then?"

"And then we'll go right in," said Harry. "You follow right behind me, and if you see anyone coming while I'm snooping around in there, set off a Decoy Detonator. You'll also have the darkness powder, should you need it. That should be more than enough to keep us safe. We'll be in and out. It'll be easy."

Sarah nodded silently, thinking over the details of their plan. Harry would be disguised as someone who has the authorization to be in there, and she would be completely invisible. Aside from having to assault someone, the plan actually didn't sound half bad.

"And Professor McGonagall?" Sarah asked. Harry nodded.

"I've already got permission," he said. "I went to see her last night after bringing you back here. I figured it would be easier to talk her into it if she didn't see that you were piss drunk from going to Diagon Alley."'

Sarah laughed.

"Yeah, that's probably right," she said. "Good thinking. And the others?"

"I've already told them where we're going. Or where we're supposed to be going, at least. They don't seem suspicious," Harry replied.

"Alright," Sarah said, nodding. Everything seemed sound enough. Harry sure knew what he was doing when it came to sneaking around and breaking rules.

Sarah spent the next hour getting dressed and ready while reviewing the details of their plan. Harry assured her that getting inside would be the difficult part. Once in, everything else should fall into place, and the likelihood of anything going awry should be very small. Harry's excitement infected Sarah. When it was almost time to leave, she was pacing around her room nervously, pulse racing. She had never done anything like this before. Before setting out, they made a fast double-check that they had everything they needed. Sarah retrieved the small bottle of Polyjuice potion from within her wardrobe and gave it to Harry, who in turn gave her two Decoy Detonators, his invisibility cloak, and a handful of Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder to stow away inside her robes.

When it was nearly ten, and they were completely sure that they were prepared, they left the school's grounds. Harry Apparated them to an unassuming London street, where they waited in an alleyway.


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Nearly an hour later, when nothing had happened, Sarah became restless. Both she and Harry were sharing the space under the protective invisibility cloak until Harry could transform, and it was cramped.

Having been so concerned about their little mission, Sarah had neglected to remember that it was very chilly outside. She didn't dress warmly. Arms folded around herself against the cold, she shivered a little. It was another chilly, gray day in London. In the few times that she had been here, Sarah hadn't seen any other kind.

"Are you sure this is the right place?" she asked Harry impatiently.

"Yes, I've been here loads of times," Harry replied. "See those two public toilets across the way? That's one of the secret entrances."

"What? They have you enter the Ministry though a bathroom?" clearly this sounded absurd to Sarah, who had been imagining some huge, grand entrance to the world's most powerful magical institution.

"Well they can't exactly roll out a red carpet, can they? All the Muggles would see," said Harry.

"Yeah I guess that's right," Sarah conceded. "Still, that's pretty ridiculous."

"Just wait until you see how you have to get inside," Harry laughed, remembering how he, Ron, and Hermione 'flushed' themselves into the Ministry.

Sarah sighed, looking around at the empty street. Harry noticed her exasperation, and glanced at his watch. It was nearly eleven.

"He should be here soon," he told her.

"You confund or whatever, and then I stun?" Sarah asked again, wanting to be perfectly clear that Harry actually wanted her to try and stun this man.

"That's right," Harry said, "All from underneath the cloak. It wouldn't do for anyone to see who it was, if there's anyone around. Then, you duck back behind that waste bin, and I'll take the cloak out there with me and drag him back here. After that, we'll lock him backstage."

Harry motioned to the door in the alleyway which he had already magically opened. It led backstage into a small, empty theater, and would do very well as a place to temporarily stash their unconscious victim out of sight, just like it had last time.

"If he comes to," Harry continued, "He'll probably too confused to get out until the Confundus Charm wears off. We should have plenty of time."

Sarah nodded her understanding and continued their vigil of the street. Every so often a Muggle would walk or jog by, but other than that, things were quiet and uneventful. That was, until, both she and Harry flinched upon hearing a loud crack. Somebody had just Apparated nearby.

Both of them leaned forward, carefully scanning the street for the first sign of movement. Sure enough, only a moment later, they both spotted the tall wizard whose long, blonde hair was worn in a single braid. He was strolling casually toward the public toilet, completely unaware of what was about to happen to him.

Harry slowly raised his wand toward the man, so that his hand stuck out from underneath the cloak.

"Confundo!"

Sarah watched as the man flinched and stopped in his tracks, as if he had been hit by some invisible force. He looked around confusedly, and did not move any closer to the toilet entrance. She became so distracted with watching the man's reactions to Harry's spell that she forgot her part. Harry nudged her impatiently.

"Oh!" Sarah gasped. She was supposed to stun him. Raising her wand just like Harry had, she took a deep breath.

"Stupefy!"

The force of her spell, once again, had not been entirely focused. She was forced backward, and being unable to steady herself in her awkward crouching position, she fell over and rolled out from underneath the cloak. As soon as this happened she heard movement. She could no longer see Harry, but she knew that he was rushing out into the street.

Quickly bringing herself to her feet, she saw that she had hit her mark. The man that Harry called Edward was now lying unconscious on his back in the street. Hoping that she hadn't hurt him, she watched as the unconscious man's body began moving. His arms raised themselves above his head, and it appeared as if he were gliding across the ground somehow. He drew closer and closer until Sarah could once again hear Harry's footsteps.

The invisible Harry dragged Edward straight past Sarah and directly into the empty theater's backstage area. Sarah followed after. At first, she could not see Harry because he was underneath the cloak, but he soon whipped it off. He tossed it to Sarah, who caught it in her arms and bundled it up, and watched as Harry knelt down beside the unconscious man and set to work. When she saw Harry rummaging around in the man's every pocket, she smirked.

"You didn't tell me we were going to be robbing him, too," she said sarcastically.

"He has things we need," Harry said quickly, still searching through Edward's pockets. As soon as he said this, he located two small Ministry coins within the right jacket pocket. Keeping one for himself, he tossed the other to Sarah. She caught it, regarding it curiously in her palm. "We need that to get inside."

Harry then located the tiny silver key which would allow him access into the records hall. Edward kept it in his breast pocket. As soon as Harry pocketed the key, he drew out his small bottle of Polyjuice potion and carefully plucked a single hair from Edward's head. Uncorking the bottle, he dropped in the hair, waiting for the potion to transform so that he knew it was ready. As he waited, he spoke again.

"This might look really strange," he warned Sarah, "Remember, I'm going to look identical to him, but it's still me. Alright?"

Sarah nodded silently, eyes glued to the small bottle in Harry's hand. She was eager to see what would happen when he drank it and somehow transformed into this man's exact likeness.

After a few moments, the tiny amount of potion swirled and became a vibrant blue. Sucking in a deep breath, Harry tilted his head back. He knew that Polyjuice tended not to taste so good. Wincing, he downed the bottle's contents in one swig.

Sarah watched in horror as Harry's flesh seemed to bubble and distort like hot wax. Within a matter of seconds, his entire being had transformed. As Harry adjusted himself to his awkward new body, Sarah looked from the unconscious Edward, to Harry, and back again. They looked exactly alike. No longer having terrible eyesight, Harry removed his glasses and handed them out to Sarah.

"Here, hold these for me," he told her.

Sarah looked apprehensive as she took the glasses from him, stuffing them into one of the inside pockets of her robe.

"It's me, remember?" said Harry.

"I know," Sarah said quietly, "It's just... weird."

"I know it is," Harry told her, remembering how he hadn't been able to fully adjust when Hermione took on the likeness of the hated Bellatrix Lestrange. "Now come on, we haven't got any time to waste."

Both of them hurried back out into the alleyway. Harry slammed the rusty lock back onto the theater's door, and Sarah draped herself in the invisibility cloak.

"Just follow me, stay close," Harry said quietly, peering out of they alleyway into the street. Everything looked clear. He then began casually strolling toward the entrance to the public toilets, just as Edward had been doing before being attacked.

"When you get into the women's toilet, put that little coin into one of the doors. Then you'll have to stand in the toilet and flush it to get inside," Harry said quietly.

"What?" Sarah spat loudly. Harry quickly shushed her and glanced around frantically.

"You're supposed to be invisible, remember?" he whispered loudly. "No noises like that, you'll give yourself away! Just do what I told you. You won't get wet or anything, I promise. Once we're inside, I'll wait for you to give me some kind of signal before going on. Just stay really close to me."

They parted ways at the entrance to the toilets. Sarah watched as Harry disappeared down the stairs into the men's entrance, and sure enough she heard a toilet flushing only moments later. This was ridiculous, she thought. She wondered if someone had come up with this idea for an entrance to the Ministry as some kind of joke which had then been accepted as a real idea. Entering the women's toilets, Sarah looked around. Everything appeared normal enough. Following Harry's instruction, she inserted the small coin embossed with 'MoM' into a small slot on one of the doors. Opening the door, she stepped inside the stall and faced the toilet.

As she regarded the toilet, she shook her head. This had to be the most ridiculous thing she'd ever done. Sighing softly, she stepped up into the toilet bowl. Expecting to get her feet wet, she was surprised when she didn't feel any water at all. Harry had been right. Without hesitating, she reached forward and flushed.

She wasn't really sure what happened next, except that she now found herself in a completely different place. She didn't know it, but she was now in the Atrium of the Ministry. Walls everywhere were lined with fireplaces, and occasionally a witch or wizard would appear from within one, or disappear into another. The floors were a dark, polished stone, and just ahead she could hear a faint rushing of water from a fountain. Very taken in by the sights, it took her a moment to notice Harry standing there, as Edward Skyvale, looking around nervously. He was waiting for her to give her some kind of sign that she made it inside. Sarah quickly walked over to where he stood, taking a hold of his right hand and giving it a squeeze.

Harry gave no outward recognition of her sign except for a curt nod. Now that he was sure that Sarah was with him, he strode off in the direction of the lift area. Sarah hurried along behind him, but wasn't really watching where they were going. She was too absorbed with trying to take everything in. She could now see the Fountain of Magical Brethren, and due to her experiences thus far in the magical world, she was able to identify each of its occupants. There was a witch, a wizard, a centaur, a goblin, and a house-elf. Water spouted from different points of the statuary, filling the Atrium with the hiss of running water.

Turning away from the fountain, she kept a closer eye on Harry. The Ministry was only sparsely crowded, and Sarah guessed correctly that this was because it was a Sunday. Anyone they happened to pass did not so much as give Harry a second glance. He was thankful for this. Anyone who stopped to observe them closely would have heard the phantom second set of footsteps trailing his.

The lift area was empty when they reached it. When the next lift arrived, Harry first looked inside to see that it was empty. Before he would hit the button to guide the lift on to level three, he waited for Sarah to give his hand another squeeze. It would be disastrous if they were to get separated like that. If she were to get carelessly lost, she couldn't be seen, and Harry would have no way of knowing. Completely sure that she was there, he hit the button for level three. The lift's golden grilles slid closed noisily, and Sarah steadied herself as the lift jerked and began moving.

After a few moments, the lift stopped prematurely on level five. The disembodied female voice spoke.

"Department of International Magical Cooperation," the voice said.

Sarah began shuffling, as if she were going to exit the lift. In a panic, Harry's arms shot out and caught hold of her shoulders. Just before the door to the lift opened, he shuffled her into the back corner of the lift, where he shielded her invisible form with his own visible body. No one would find her there. Harry pretended to look as nonchalant as possible.

Shortly after the doors to the lift opened, another wizard entered. He was shorter than Harry was in Edward's form, with short brown hair, light brown eyes, and a friendly boyish-looking face. Upon seeing Harry, the new wizard smiled and nodded, and Harry returned the gesture as best he could.

"Good morning, Ed," said the brown-haired wizard, situating himself as the lift's doors clanged shut once again.

"Good morning," Harry replied. The lift jerked into motion once more.

Thankfully, the new wizard said no more, and left Harry to his silence. He couldn't even begin to try and tell Sarah, but the fact that someone from this level recognized the man known as Edward was a great sign. The Department of International Magical Cooperation would definitely have something to do with Obliviations taking place in every corner of the world when records needed to be kept of each incident.

Sarah was extremely uncomfortable. Harry had her pinned into the corner of the lift, and she was pressing against his back. She knew that it was indeed Harry in that disguise, but it still felt extremely unsettling to be this close to a stranger. Thinking them to be alone in the lift, she had been about to complain when she saw the other wizard climb inside with them. She remained as silent as possible. When the lift came to a stop again, she heard the same disembodied female voice speak again.

"Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes," the voice said.

Sarah nearly sighed in relief when Harry stopped pinning her into the corner. As soon as the lift's door opened, Harry quickly stepped outside. Sarah grabbed a hold of the back of his shirt and followed after. The contact would let Harry be sure that she had indeed exited the lift with him instead of being left behind.

This level, Sarah saw, was even emptier than the Atrium. The hallway even appeared to be half-lit, giving the feeling that nobody was even there. Harry casually strolled toward the Obliviator Headquarters, and Sarah followed after him. The office, unlike the hall, was fully lit even though it was mostly empty. The same reception witches that Harry had seen yesterday were sitting at the front desks answering Inter-departmental memos. When Harry stepped inside, the witch sitting on the right looked up at him and gave him a bright smile.

"Good morning, Ed," she said.

The reception witch who had addressed him was fairly short in stature, with curly brown hair and long red fingernails. Recalling her name from yesterday, Harry was able to respond.

"Good morning, Mary," he replied.

This is where Harry made his first mistake. Instead of going to fill out his time card, as was routine, he simply strode on past the reception witches, still trying his best to be nonchalant. Mary knew that Edward always filled out his time card before going back into his office. Shrugging it off, she continued on with her work as Edward passed. He usually came into work every day, but maybe today he was only stopping by to drop something off or pick something up.

Sarah followed after Harry as he moved past the reception desks. She could have sworn that the witch with the curly brown hair and red painted fingernails had given Harry a strange look, but it had faded away as soon as it had appeared. The disguise was flawless, Sarah thought. There was no way anyone could possibly be able to tell that Harry Potter was currently masquerading as a Ministry employee.

Harry made a straight line to the back of the office where he again encountered the massive vault-like door bearing the inscription of Records Hall. Confidently producing his tiny silver key from inside one of his pockets, he proceeded to work at the series of small keyholes. Something was strange, however. Harry knew that he had seen Edward unlock the door in just this way, but now it seemed as if the tiny silver key didn't fit at all.

Sarah could tell something was wrong. Several minutes later, Harry was still trying to jam the small silver key into the keyholes, but nothing was happening. The key would not turn, and the door was not unlocking. Harry swore under his breath. Every detail of his plan had seemed perfect, and now the tiny silver key was not working. It was the same key, Harry knew. Edward had used this very same key, only a day previously. Why wasn't it working now? He had to find out, and fast. The hour of his Polyjuice transformation was quickly ticking away.

Key in hand, Harry strode back up to where the reception witches sat. Approaching the witch named Mary, he held out his key to her. After seeing the key, she looked up at him, appearing confused.

"Mary," Harry said, trying to sound extremely casual, "My key doesn't seem to be working."

Before Harry had even said anything, Sarah knew that this was an extremely bad idea. As soon as Harry told the reception witch about his key not working, she looked extremely confused. Sarah watched as the witch looked to the small silver key, and then back up to Harry. She then leaned in close to Harry and spoke quietly.

"Ed, that's your silver key," Mary said quietly, glancing around to be sure the other reception witch wouldn't overhear. "Silver is Saturday, Ed. You know that."

Harry's eyes widened. The silver key only worked on Saturday? That must mean there was another key which would work today, but where this key could be, Harry didn't have a clue. He hadn't found any other keys while searching Edward's unconscious person. Harry remained silent, still regarding the witch curiously and hoping that she would expound on the fact that his silver key wasn't working. Unfortunately, she too remained silent, regarding him with an equally curious expression.

"Oh, that's right!" Harry said at last, trying to sound surprised at himself. "Silly me, I lost track of the time and thought it was Saturday again. Thanks, Mary."

Harry quickly retreated to the back of the office again, and Sarah followed after him.

Mary watched Edward's retreating form. He would have known that it was Sunday if he had only stopped to fill out his time card, she thought. But he hadn't. The Edward Skyvale that she knew was meticulous about his work. Something was off. Edward had seemed confused when she told him that his silver key didn't work today because it wasn't Saturday. Something was definitely off, but she didn't know what. Perhaps someone had confunded him as a bad prank? Whatever it was, she wanted to find out. Standing, she moved to exit the office.

"Taking an early lunch, Liz," she called to the other reception witch. "I'll be back soon."


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In the back of the office, at the door to the record hall, Harry was cursing himself. In his planning, he hadn't bothered to found out where Edward's office was in the unlikely event that he needed to get something from it. That unlikely event was now a reality. Since the real Edward didn't have any other keys on his possession before entering the Ministry, Harry knew that they were most likely somewhere around here, and the best bet for that would be his office. There was some other key which would open the door, and Harry needed to find it as fast as possible.

"Find this guy's office," he whispered loudly so that Sarah would hear him. "Come get me if you find it. Hurry."

They split up. Sarah darted through the office, inspecting doors and cubicles, looking for anything which bore the name of Edward Skyvale. The office was mostly empty, which afforded Sarah more leeway in making noise or having the cloak revealing her feet and ankles as she rushed along. After several minutes of frenzied searching, she finally came to a door with a plaque bearing Edward's name. Sprinting back down the hall to where she had left Harry, she found him searching through cubicles.

Harry gasped when the invisible Sarah seized his arm roughly.

"This way!" she whispered loudly, tugging him in the direction she had come from. Harry allowed himself to be pulled the entire way there.

Some distance down the hall, Sarah stopped him. He was now facing a door with a golden plaque which read,

Edward Skyvale, Chief Archivist

Chief Archivist? Harry thought to himself. I sure know how to pick them.

He immediately went for the handle, but it was locked. He whipped out his wand.

"Alohomora!"

There was a faint clicking, and Harry could now turn the handle and push open the door.

"Lumos!

He illuminated his wand as he stepped into the darkened office, shining it into every corner. Sarah mimicked him from underneath the cloak.

"Keys," Harry said, "Look for keys!"

The two of them proceeded to quite literally tear apart Edward's office. Time was of the essence, and Harry, in his stupidity, knew that he had probably already tipped off the reception witch to the fact that something was going on. Throwing caution to the wind, he tore through Edward's office as fast as possible in search of anything that resembled a key.

After several minutes of searching, Sarah came across keys in one of Edward's desk drawers that she had managed to unlock by mimicking the spell she had seen Harry use. Well, she hadn't so much as unlocked it as she had damaged the lock so badly to the point where it would no longer function. Regardless, the drawer was open, and six metallic keys were glittering up at her from under her wandlight.

"Harry, here!" she whispered loudly, motioning him over. By this point she had forgotten that she was invisible.

Harry rushed over to the open drawer, knocking Sarah aside. He had also forgotten that she was invisible.

"Sorry," he said quickly, "I forgot you were there."

There were six keys, seven in all, including the silver one that Harry had in his possession. One for each day of the week, he assumed. Somehow, for extra security, the locks on the door to the record hall must magically change themselves on a daily basis. Only those people who worked closely with the records would know which key unlocked the door on which day.

Harry examined the keys. They were lined up in a neat little row, but there was a blank spot. This was where the silver key must go, he knew. Next to it, to the right of the blank spot, there was a small golden key. If silver was Saturday, then gold might be Sunday. Placing the silver key back in its place, Harry picked up the golden key and stood, leaving the drawer open. If this key didn't work, he would have to come back for the others.

Harry walked quickly back to the large vault-like door. Whispering a silent prayer, he brought the small golden key up to the keyholes. Harry sighed in relief when the key easily slid into the first hole he tried. He was able to turn it, and he heard a faint clicking noise. He quickly repeated this with each of they keyholes, and soon he was able to slowly and carefully open the massive door.

The records hall was pitch black; for some reason, it was not lit like it had been yesterday when the real Edward had gone inside. Illuminating his wand again, Harry stepped inside.

"Keep watch at the door," he whispered loudly to Sarah. "Shout to me if something happens. Don't hesitate to use what you've got if you think something is going wrong."

Sarah didn't have any time to tell Harry that she heard him before he rushed off into the darkened hall. Double-checking that the cloak was concealing her completely, she stood against the frame of the massive vault-like door, staring out into the office. She still held her wand in her right hand, and with her left, she felt around in her robe's pockets. She had the Decoy Detonators, and she had the darkness powder. If she became frightened that they were about to be caught, she would do as Harry instructed her, and not hesitate to use anything.

As she stood guard, the reality of what they were doing became apparent to her. They had just quite literally broken into this place. They weren't supposed to be here, and she knew that they could probably get into some major trouble if they were caught. To top that all off, they had just assaulted a Ministry employee outside and locked him inside an empty theater. Previously, her constant movement had kept her mind off of everything, but now that she was standing perfectly still, she felt nervous. She found that her teeth were chattering a little, and that she could barely keep herself from fidgeting with nerves. She greatly hoped that Harry would be as fast as possible. She had wanted nothing more than to come here and find whatever they could find, but now all she wanted was to get out.

Harry was sprinting through the records hall as fast as he could. He sped past rows and rows of the huge filing cabinets, scanning their letters and numbers with his eyes. He needed to find the cabinets which were labeled 'G'. After a few moments of running, he found the first cabinets in the 'G' row, and immediately dove into them. The name 'Garrend', he knew, would be pretty high up on the alphabetical ladder, but it would still take some careful guesswork to find the exact filing cabinet, and then the exact drawer. He set to work, knowing that he should have more than enough time. Unfortunately, he didn't have nearly enough time as he thought.

Back outside, Sarah froze in terror as she saw three people advancing down the hall toward where she stood. One of them was the curly-haired reception witch, she knew, but the other two people she did not recognize. They were both wizards wearing the same kind of uniform, and she became alarmed when she saw that both of them were holding their wands aloft in their hands. She became paralyzed by fear as they drew closer and closer to where she stood. Although they did not know it themselves, their wands were pointing directly at her.

Harry! Her mind screamed at her. Warn Harry!

Sarah gasped audibly, but the approaching wizards did not hear. Ducking back into the records hall, she shouted out into the darkness.

"Harry!"

Her yell echoed. She had no way of knowing where exactly Harry was in the sea of filing cabinets, but he couldn't have missed that.

And he didn't.

Further inside, Harry was whipping open drawers as fast as he could. His guesswork had quickly located the cabinet in which Sarah's file should be located, and now he was just trying to find which drawer it would be inside. When he heard Sarah's shout, he knew his time was just about up. Either Sarah was over-reacting to a false alarm, or their cover had been blown and someone knew that something was up. Having no way of knowing, he rushed on, pulling open drawers.

Back at the doorway, Sarah had just taken a Decoy Detonator out of her robes and activated it, crouching to the floor and setting it down. She watched in amazement as it scurried off across the floor of its own accord, straight through the legs of the advancing group, and into a row of cubicles beside them. There it must have exploded, because there was a loud bang, and Sarah saw as it began snowing paper fragments. The tiny device had done its job, and the uniformed wizards immediately turned off course and rushed over in the direction of the explosion. Sarah gave a tiny sigh of relief; that would buy them a few extra moments. Nervously, she glanced back into the records hall. It was still pitch black, and she had no idea where Harry could be. She just hoped that he was hurrying, or done. They needed to get out, and fast.

As Harry heard what he knew to be an explosion from one of Sarah's Decoy Detonators, he was crouched over the first filing cabinet in the 'G' row, his fingers dancing across the tabs of the files in the second drawer from the top. He knew he was only inches away from where the name 'Garrend' should be, but a sense of dread filled him when he saw that the back of the cabinet seemed to be empty. Every drawer he had examined so far had been completely stuffed with files. There was absolutely no empty space anywhere, as far as he could tell. This drawer, however, had an empty space toward the back. Assuming the worst, Harry thought that the names would stop or end alphabetically before he reached where 'Garrend' should be.

A shot of adrenaline rushed through him when he saw that he was wrong.

Back outside, the wizards had already emerged from the exploded cubicles and were quickly advancing on the door to the record hall, which they could clearly see was ajar. Sarah let the second Decoy Detonator go, pointing it in a different direction than the first. It obediently scurried off into a second group of cubicles where it exploded with another loud bang, again distracting the attentions of the uniformed wizards for a few scarce moments. Her heart was now beating in her throat. If they got any closer this time, she would have to use the darkness powder. If that failed, she would have to try and stun them.

Hurry, Harry, Hurry! she screamed inside her head.

Just before Sarah's second decoy exploded, Harry had just extracted two file folders bearing the name Garrend. He felt elated. As he looked back up into the drawer, however, he could see that there was something else there. There was another file straight in the back that he hadn't seen. What was it doing all the way back there, behind all that blank space? He began reaching for it. Out of this file there appeared to be sticking an awkwardly over-sized strip of paper. Just before he could reach it, he flinched when he heard the second explosion. Harry knew Sarah was now out of Decoy Detonators, and if the darkness powder should fail, it would probably come to blows with whoever she was trying to throw off course. He had to get to her. Putting the file at the back of the drawer out of his mind resolutely, he slammed the drawer shut and sprinted back in the direction of the vault-like door.

He came to the door just as the wizards were emerging from the second group of exploded cubicles. Careful not to expose himself, he ducked behind the door just out of sight. He knew that Sarah could see whatever approaching threat was out there, but he could not. All he knew was that they needed to get out.

"The darkness powder," he whispered loudly. "Throw it down ahead of you and run straight out. You won't be able to see, just run straight out!"

Sarah reached inside her robes pocket and filled her hand with the inky black powder. She tossed it several feet in front of her, and her world instantly vanished in a puff of darkness. She could see nothing. Taking a deep breath, she summoned her courage and did as Harry told her to, running in a straight line through the utter blackness. Harry, who had taken a hold of her shoulder, was right behind her. She was able to successfully lead them out of the darkness. When they could see again, they were near the reception desks, which were now empty. Turning to look behind them, they could see a screen of complete darkness, and nothing else. They could hear random shouts issuing from within it, but could not make out what they were saying.

"Come on!" Harry said, tugging on Sarah's invisible shoulder. Together, they both darted outside of the office.

Once they were back inside the half-lit hallway, they ran in the direction of the lift. Sarah could see that Harry was holding something. He had found something, but it wasn't as if they could stop to read it right here. Harry stopped running, and Sarah skidded to a halt alongside him.

"Let me under!" he said, and Sarah lifted the side of the cloak to allow Edward's tall form to crouch down into it. They had to scramble along awkwardly now, as it was almost impossible to keep both of them hidden underneath it. When they reached the lifts, there was already an empty lift waiting for them, probably the same one that they had used to come up from the Atrium. Once they were inside, Harry reached out to push the button to take them back to the Atrium, but the lift jerked into motion before he could.

"Hide!" he whispered, crouching down with Sarah in the corner of the lift. They were both now huddled together as close as they could be, the cloak completely covering them. The lift dragged them upwards.

When it came to a stop, the disembodied female voice spoke.

"Department of Magical Law Enforcement," the voice said.

The lift's doors slid open, and three tall, tough-looking wizards shuffled inside. They looked as if they were in a hurry. They were none the wiser that Harry and Sarah were concealed in the corner of the lift. As soon as they had entered, one of the wizards slammed a lift button, and it immediately jerked into motion again, dragging them back downward.

"Where are we going again?" one of the wizards asked impatiently.

"Some kind of disturbance in the Obliviator Headquarters," another explained.

When the lift stopped again, they were back on level three.

"Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes," the disembodied female voice spoke.

When the lift's doors opened, all three wizards rushed out, not looking back. As soon as they had, Harry quickly lunged forward and hit the button to take them back to level eight, where the Atrium was. He didn't want the lift being called into service again for someone else before they reached their destination. Every moment that their escape was delayed, their situation became more and more dangerous. The lift jerked into motion again, dragging them down to the Atrium. The entire way down, the pair remained silent, both of them praying that the lift would not stop. Mercifully, it didn't.

When the doors opened again, both of them scrambled out of the lift, still crouching awkwardly underneath the invisibility cloak. The Atrium was still mostly empty. Harry had been half expecting to see squads of Death Eaters sealing off the exits, but everything looked normal. Together, they made their way back to the same entrance they had used, and they quickly found themselves back out on the unassuming London street. Taking Sarah's arm tightly in his, Harry immediately turned on the spot, pulling both of them into nothingness.


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When they reappeared, both of them were unsteady on their feet. The Apparition had been sudden, and Sarah hadn't been completely ready for it. Harry was also still uncomfortable in his assumed body. Upon appearing, both of them toppled over onto the ground. Harry had brought them back just outside the school's perimeter, on the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Harry stood up, dusting himself off, and held out his hand to Sarah. After completely pulling the cloak off of herself, she took his hand and allowed him to help her to her feet, but she had a wary expression on her face.

"You're still Harry, right?" she asked.

"Of course I am," Harry replied.

Sarah smiled a little.

"I know you are, it's still weird though," she explained.

Harry glanced at his watch; it was only twenty till noon. They still had a bit of time before his Polyjuice would wear off.

"Well, we can't go up just yet," he said. "We have to wait until I turn back."

"Alright," said Sarah. "Harry, what did you find?" she asked, examining what Harry was holding. Now that they were safely out of the Ministry, she wanted to know what it was right away.

"Oh," said Harry, holding up the folders. In all the excitement, he nearly forgot that he had them in the first place. "Here," he said, holding them out to her. "Why don't you take the first look."

Sarah took the folders from him, looking confused.

"Why are there two?" she asked.

"I don't know," Harry said, "I just grabbed what said 'Garrend' on it. There's probably a record for someone else named Garrend too. I haven't looked at them at all. You take a look."

Sarah nodded and sat herself down on the ground with her legs crossed. She rested the folders in her lap, looking studious. One of these, she hoped, would be her. Harry sat down in front of her and watched. Opening the top folder, labeled Garrend, G-1-3, #32278, she examined the file inside.


Obliviation Case Garrend G-1-3 #32278.

Subject: Garrend, Geoffrey.

Status: Muggle.

Memory Modifications: Obliviated.

Date of Event: November 6, 1981.

Location: 12 Archer Crescent, Spelthorne, Surrey.

Reason: Accidentally witnessed the creation of a Patronus Charm, source of which unknown. Wife also Obliviated. See: Obliviation Case Garrend G-1-3 #32279.

"Oh no," Sarah said quietly as she looked over the words, filling up with a sense of dread. This wasn't anything having to do with her, and if the file was correct, she suspected that the second folder contained the file for this person's wife. Sure enough, opening the second fold, she found that it did.

Obliviation Case Garrend G-1-3 #32279.

Subject: Garrend, Elizabeth.

Status: Muggle.

Memory Modifications: Obliviated.

Date of Event: November 6, 1981.

Location: 12 Archer Crescent, Spelthorne, Surrey.

Reason: Accidentally witnessed the creation of a Patronus Charm, source of which unknown. Husband also Obliviated. See: Obliviation Case Garrend G-1-3 #32278.

Sarah sighed deeply and closed the folders, tossing them unceremoniously back at Harry. As soon as they were out of her hands, she flopped onto her back in the grass, staring straight up at the chilly, gray sky.

"What is it?" Harry inquired, neatly rearranging the folders from Sarah's toss. "What's wrong?"

"Just take a look at them," Sarah said, her voice full of disappointment. "They've got nothing to do with me. They're for two Muggles who live in Surrey. We went in there for nothing. There isn't anything about me."

Harry quickly flipped open the folders and examined the files inside. She was right; they were files for two Muggles in Surrey who had apparently witnessed the creation of an unknown Patronus.

"Damn it," Harry said loudly, slamming down the folders in the grass. That had been a giant bust. All that effort for nothing.

"We'll never find out," said Sarah flatly, still staring up at the sky.

"It's all my fault," Harry said, resting his head in his palms. "There could have been more Garrends at the front of the drawer underneath, but I panicked when I heard your Decoy Detonators going off. These were the last files in drawer three. Or maybe...," Maybe that weird-looking file at the back of drawer three, the one I didn't have time to look at, also has Garrend written on it, he thought to himself. He did not voice that aloud. It wasn't as if they could go back right away, and getting inside a second time would be even more difficult after having created such a ruckus. He might never know what that other file was, if anything, or if there were more Garrends in drawer four.

"Or maybe what?" Sarah pressed.

"Nothing," Harry sighed. "It's all my fault."

"It's not your fault, Harry," Sarah said, sitting up. "I wanted to go too. At least we know we can stop looking now."

Harry didn't say anything. He definitely wasn't in the mood to stop looking, but he didn't see any avenues on which to continue their search for the moment.

About fifteen minutes later, Harry's transformation wore off. After getting his glasses back from Sarah, they both headed back up to the castle.

Sarah felt just about as dreary as the colorless gray sky above.


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A/N: There you have chapter 14! Close call, huh? Nothing ever seems to go quite the way we plan! At least they weren't caught. I think the story is moving along quite nicely. I'm not 100% positive yet, but I'm pretty sure that chapter 15 is might get lemony, so stay tuned!

I also made a small edit in Chapter 13, involving the dating on the files in the record hall of the Obliviator Headquarters. I realized there might be some confusion with dating since I think that Brits do it day/month/year instead of month/day/year like we do. I could be wrong though. Regardless, I decided I would just spell it out plainly!

Leave a review please! Thank you for reading :)