Disclaimer:
Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I make.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 75: Escaping
Susan continued to stare at her now dead aunt as if she didn't quite understand what had happened. "Did I… kill my aunt Amelia? Why did I do that?"
Harry glanced at the girl. It's been a while since he had pushed the loyalty of someone under the Slavery Collar this much.
Allowing Susan to murder the last member of her family may have seemed exceedingly cruel, but Harry had done that because he wanted to test the power of the collar and see if the person would still remain loyal even if he asked them to betray everything and everyone they cared about.
"You killed her because I asked you to do it," Harry told her.
Susan turned around. There were now tears in her eyes. "You asked me…"
"I did." Harry nodded. "Do you hate me for it?"
"I… hate? No. I don't hate you at all." Susan tilted her head. "Isn't that strange?"
Harry smiled. It appeared that the test was a success. "Not at all. You are my loyal servant after all. And your aunt pointed her wand at me. It is natural for you to protect your Master… that is your duty."
"It's my duty." Susan seemed to understand. "That's right… I must serve my Master. It's my duty…"
"It is. And right now, your job is to help me get this thing out of here." Harry pointed at the giant book. "It is quite large and heavy, but I don't dare to apply any spells on it, as that may have an adverse reaction."
There was already a lot of obscure magic in that book. There was no telling what would happen if he tried to make it smaller or lighter.
Susan walked to him and helped him lift the book over his back so he could carry it with ease.
'To get out of here, we can use the same portkey that brought me to the Ministry. It will send me to the point where I left. But the portkey cannot be activated from here. For that, I must return to the third floor without being spotted on the way there.'
Luckily, he had just the thing to aid him in that task.
He took a cloak from one of his magical pockets and threw it at Susan. "Cover us with that invisibility cloak. Make sure that no part of our bodies is visible as we move."
They needed to move quickly. There was a good chance that someone in the Ministry had been alerted about this non-scheduled entrance in the Museum, even if it had been Amelia who unlocked the doors and the container for the book.
He also had no way to know if Amelia had told anyone else about her trip here or the letter, despite having asked her not to.
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Ten Minutes Later
'Looks like I was worrying too much,' Harry thought as he spotted the large gates leading to the portkey area where he had initially arrived.
Once in that room, he would be allowed to activate his portkey and escape the Ministry before anyone discovered what he had done.
Susan had performed her task without flaw and was now at his side, holding the invisibility cloak to cover them.
They had only run across a few people on the way here, as most of them were still at the party hall. It appears that Amelia Bones had not warned anyone about what was happening after all.
'Mmm… there is at least one person in that room.' Harry spotted a shadow moving as he got closer.
He made Susan stop right at the entrance so he could take a better look inside.
There was indeed someone in there. It was one of the men dressed in black suits who had welcomed the guests just an hour ago.
Only this one remained in here while the others must have gone to do something else.
Harry still didn't enter the room and observed for a bit longer, as the man appeared to be doing something.
He moved towards the center, and a moment later, someone appeared right in the middle of the room.
"Welcome to the Ministry of Magic, Headmistress…" The man said with a tone of politeness.
Minerva McGonagall was still getting used to being addressed as such. She glanced at the man and nodded. "Yes, thank you. But I'm not here for the party. I came to see Madam Bones."
"Well, I'm sure you will find her at the party hall. I can escort you there if y—"
"That won't be necessary. I'm very familiar with it." McGonagall interrupted him. "Sorry, but I'm in a bit of a hurry."
"Of course, I understand." The man didn't look offended at all.
The Headmistress took off immediately and began to walk out of the room at a brisk pace.
Harry and Susan were still standing at the entrance, only covered by the invisibility cloak. He instructed Susan not to move while he carefully took the invitation out of his pocket.
McGonagall passed by their side, and at first, it didn't look like she had noticed anything off, but just after taking a few more steps, she stopped and turned around. "Is someone there?…" She asked with furrowed brows, having felt something strange the moment she passed by the entrance.
Knowing that they were going to be found if they stayed there, Harry instructed Susan to begin moving inside.
Once they had crossed into the room's walls, the restrictions on their ability to teleport outside the Ministry were lifted.
"Grab onto me." Without hesitation, Harry activated the portkey while Susan held his arm.
"Hey… what the…" The attendant immediately detected that someone was using a portkey without warning, but when he looked over at the entrance, he only spotted a pair of feet poking from beneath the cloak.
It was only for an instant, as the cloak had moved slightly in the last moment.
"Wait! You are not authorized to l—" The man shouted. However, it was too late, as they had already left with a loud pop noise.
McGonagall rushed back into the room. "What happened?!"
"Headmistress, we must call the Aurors!" The man exclaimed. "Someone just activated a portkey without authorization, and they were hiding under an invisibility cloak."
"An invisibility cloak?" McGonagall raised an eyebrow.
Getting a bad feeling, she decided to hurry to the party hall and find her friend Amelia.
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