Harry Potter and the Lost Cities

CHAPTER ELEVEN

"Good morning!" An unfamiliar red-haired wizard called out to Harry as he entered the ministry elevator. Harry smiled and nodded. He had gotten used to everyone in the Ministry knowing him, even though he didn't always know them.

He glanced at his watch. He was supposed to meet with Hermione that morning and try to figure out their next move with the elves. It was all getting rather complicated. He could still hardly believe there was another world out there...

The elevator doors opened again to let more people in. This time, a much more familiar voice said, "Morning, Harry."

He turned towards the sound to find Adam Balmer smiling at him. Adam had been one of his co-workers for almost ten years, and they'd become close friends over all the cases they'd solved. "G'morning, Adam. How're you?"

"Not bad..." He lowered his voice. "How 'bout that whole elf thing? You really did go with them to see their cities?"

"One of their houses, actually," Harry corrected quietly. They hadn't made the whole "elves" thing public yet. The only people who knew were Hermione, Ginny, the Senior undersecretary to the Minister, and the group of Aurors that had been there. Hermione probably told Ron by now, too, Harry supposed. "But yeah, it really is all true. They explained everything about the group that probably is behind the murders and disappearances, and we're planning on working together to find them."

Adam whistled. "Crazy."

Harry nodded.

"You getting off?" Adam asked as the doors opened yet again to the second floor, where Harry would normally have gotten off. But today he shook his head.

"Meeting with Hermi― the Minister this morning."

"Oh, alright. See you later, then."

"You and Cindy still coming for dinner tomorrow?"

"That's the plan."

"All right. See you."

A few minutes later, Harry knocked at Hermione's office door, receiving a flustered, "come in" in response.

He opened the door. "Hey, 'Mione. Everything okay?"

"Oh, yes, it's just been a crazy week, hasn't it? And with Rose and Hugo home I didn't get a whole lot of time to think about everything yesterday and all―"

"Woah, calm down, I think your panic attacks are contagious," Harry said.

Hermione offered a weary smile. "Yeah, sorry. Anyway, Mia should be here any moment, she's just a wee bit late..."

A few minutes later, Mia Anderson, Hermione's secretary, bustled in. "So sorry I'm late, Hermione, Mr. Potter."

"It's quite alright," Hermione replied graciously. "Now, let's get started, shall we? What do you think of the elves?"

Harry looked at her with surprise at her tone. It was almost... suspicious? "How do you mean? You don't think we can trust them?"

Hermione shrugged. "You don't think it's at all suspicious that they just showed up out of nowhere with all these wild claims? I know their story checked out, but something feels weird... how did this 'Neverseen' happen to stumble on wizards? Or is there really a Neverseen at all?"

"What are you saying?"

Hermione sighed. "I was wondering... what if the whole 'Neverseen' thing is fake? What proof do we have that all those people we met last night really are the good guys?"

Harry hesitated. He hadn't thought about that... but it was true. Clearly there were elves, there was no doubt about that... but what if the elves they met were trying to manipulate them into helping their side? What if they had been the ones to murder the Whites and Ethan?

"Well, I think we still have to work with them," Harry decided. "Whether they're the good guys or not, they are a lead. We won't give them our full trust, but we need to at least see where this leads us."

"I suppose you're right," Hermione said with a sigh. "But I'm not sure I like it."

"Me neither."

"Have you looked into what they suggested?" Hermione asked. "If there might be a connection between the disappearances?"

"I haven't found one yet," Harry admitted. "But I'll keep looking."

"Good. I'm doubtful you'll find anything, but it doesn't hurt to try, I suppose..."

"Did they have any leads?" Mia asked, looking up from her notepad for the first time.

"Hardly," Hermione huffed. "It was a little disappointing, to be honest. They gave us all sorts of information on all of the horrible stuff this supposed 'Neverseen' has done in the past, but nothing on what they might do next."

Their discussion continued for a few more minutes, but there wasn't much to talk about. The simple truth was that the Black Swan hadn't given them much to work with. It was frustrating, realizing how much more power the elves had in this situation. But there wasn't anything they could do about it.

"I'll walk with you to your office," Hermione offered. "I need to stretch my legs... Rose wanted to come visit later today, and I've got to talk to Brown about the Quidditch Cup in America this year..."

They strolled over together, talking about their kids' years at Hogwarts. When they arrived at Harry's office, they parted, Hermione reminding Harry that he was supposed to bring the kids over to Ron and George's shop sometime this week.

An hour later found Harry working hard to prepare for the briefing he had with his Aurors later, where he hoped to explain what he and Hermione had talked about at their meeting earlier, as well as the expectations for working with the elves.

However, his preparations were cut short when he heard his door open loudly behind him. He turned around to reprimand whoever it was for not knocking, but stopped when he saw Hermione there, pale-faced and wide-eyed.

Before he could open his mouth to ask what was wrong, Hermione exclaimed, "Rose is missing!"