Super 8

Chapter 52

Hermione's POV

The man inside the office must have nothing to do in life because he's slouched in his chair, playing with his fingers. He looks up, sees us, and sits up straight in his chair.

"Uh, sorry. I am Larry Lancaster. I usually don't get many visits here," he says. He studies us all. "So what can I help you with?" I glance at the others. None of them are speaking up yet, so I do.

"I have a question to start off with. Do you know the exact location of Amycus and Alecto Carrow?" I ask. My voice isn't sweet, but it isn't bitter either. It's the tone that makes you afraid to lie. Mr. Lancaster suddenly looks worried. His eyes dart between the five of us. We keep straight faces.

"Uh... Um... Yeah, sure. Why?" He stammers. He's obviously lying. I roll my eyes to let him know that I know he's lying.

"Well then you would've known where they have been holding me hostage then, right? Surely you knew that," I say, partially calling him out and partially intriguing him. His eyes get wide.

"H-how- how did you get out? Where are they? Here, sit, sit!" He says, snapping his fingers. Five chairs appear and we all take a seat. I look at my friends.

"Shall I start it off?" I ask. They nod. "I had just gotten back from the library..." I begin. I tell him about how I got taken, what I could see, what I could hear, how I ate, how I couldn't talk, and so on. By the time I was finished, his eyes were full of worry and horror.

"But sir, that's not all," Draco says. I bite my lip to keep me from laughing. It's just the way he said it was funny. Draco goes into his side of the story about how I don't take showers longer than half an hour and he checked on me, told Ginny, Ron, Harry, and how they dug around for clues, asked his mother, got a neighborhood name, lied about the wedding, flew here, saving me. Ginny, Ron, and Harry all agree that Draco's story was accurate from them and they put in a few more personal details. Mr. Lancaster nods his head, slightly less terrified.

"So, Mr. Potter, is this the group of friends who always get mixed in your messes at Hogwarts? You dragged them out of school to save Miss Granger? I should send an owl to school right away, but we seem to have three criminals on the loose. I'll send a few teams out around London. Thank you kids for letting us know. And thank you for not going straight to the Press level so they could print it in the Daily Prophet. That would cause so much panic and chaos across the magical world. When we catch them, we'll let word spread. But not when they're on the loose. Sirius Black was bad enough," he says. When he mentions Sirius, Harry's expression darkens.

"Very well, I shall have my assistant write a letter to Hogwarts telling about your lies and rescue and that you will be back soon. Good day, and safe travelings," Mr. Lancaster says. We say goodbye and leave the room. We walk down the long twisting and turning hallway back to the main room. We wave goodbye to the greeter as we step onto the lift. I grab ahold of a handle and the lift goes backwards and up. Before we know it, were back on the first floor, A. As soon as we step off the lift, it shoots back down where it came from. Probably picking up the teams being sent out. We're standing next to the big fountain in the middle of the room.

"What now?" Ginny asks.

"I guess we go back. Not much we can do now. The Ministry can hopefully handle it. Anyway, I would love to go back. I've been without books for too long," I say, smiling sheepishly at the last part. The boys laugh too and Ginny grins and rolls her eyes. I see a sign that says GUEST EXIT next to the other employee entrance/exits. I show the test of the group. They follow me over there. I look at the floor and realize that it's the same as the telephone booths floor that came down with us. There's also a keypad on the wall next to it. I punch in 62442 as the five of us barely fit on the platform. The floor rises up, leaving Level 1A of the Ministry behind.