Harry Potter and the Great Old Ones

Chapter 172 Ministry of Magic

"Guests from the Ministry of Magic, you will need to go through security and register your wand at the security checkpoint. The security checkpoint is located at the far end of the main hall."

The woman's voice spoke again.

The floor of the phone booth suddenly began to shake. They slowly sank into the ground.

Tierra watched as the sidewalk outside the phone booth window rose higher and higher until finally darkness enveloped them.

Tiera could see nothing but the monotonous, grating sound of the phone booth sinking into the ground. After about a minute, a thin golden light shone on his feet, then gradually widened, expanding across his body and finally shining directly on his face.

"The Ministry of Magic hopes you have a pleasant day," the woman's voice rang out again.

The phone booth door suddenly opened, and "Gidrolohart" went out first, followed by Tierra.

They stood at one end of a long, opulent hall with gleaming dark wooden floors. The peacock-blue ceiling was inlaid with shimmering gold symbols that moved and changed constantly, like a giant, high-altitude bulletin board.

The walls were covered with dark, glossy black wood panels, with many gilded fireplaces embedded in them. Every few seconds, with a soft "pop," a wizard would suddenly emerge from one of the fireplaces on the left. On the right, several people lined up in front of each fireplace, waiting to leave.

In the center of the foyer stood a fountain. In the center of a circular pool stood a group of solid gold statues, larger than life-size. The tallest was a noble-looking wizard, holding his wand aloft, pointing it straight to the sky. Surrounding him were a beautiful witch, a centaur, a goblin, and a house-elf. The centaur, goblin, and house-elf all looked up at the two wizards with boundless adoration. Glistening jets of water shot from the tips of the wizards' wands, from the centaur's arrowheads, from the goblin's hat, and from the house-elf's ears.

There were splashing water sounds all around, the splashing and splattering of apparitions, and the chaotic footsteps of hundreds of wizards and sorcerers. Their faces wore the deathly stillness characteristic of early morning as they strode toward a row of golden doors at the far end of the hall.

"Is this Mr. Gilderoy Lockhart?" a shrill voice asked.

Tiera and "Gidrolohart" looked towards the source of the sound—

Pushing through the crowd, a short, plump witch strode toward them.

The witch had a broad, loose face, short curly hair adorned with a small black velvet bow, and a fluffy pink cardigan over her plump body.

Dangerous!
Great danger!

"Welcome to the Ministry of Magic, Mr. Lockhart." The witch pounced on Gilderoy Lockhart and Tyella like a pink toad pouncing on its prey.

Before Tiera could react, "Gidrolohart's" hand was already being held by the pink toad.

“Welcome to the Ministry of Magic, Mr. Lockhart. My name is Dolores Umbridge, Senior Undersecretary of the Ministry of Magic.” Umbridge shook Gilderoy Lockhart’s hand vigorously as he spoke.

Then, as Tiera was momentarily stunned by the strong scent of Umbridge's perfume, Umbridge suddenly bent down and looked at Tiera—

"Clap--"

Umbridge reached out and patted Tiera's cheeks twice, then pinched them hard.

"This must be our young Mr. Lockhart, Tierra, right?" Umbridge smiled and stared at Tierra—

[That damned Mudblood, how did he manage to get a foster father like Gilderoy Lockhart!]

Tiera heard Umbridge say in his mind.

“Mr. Lockhart, this way please.” Umbridge stood up after pinching Tiera’s cheek.

He strode toward the Ministry of Magic checkpoint
“I have brought two guests with me,” Umbridge said coldly to the checkpoint staff.

"This way, please." The previously listless wizard jumped like a cat whose tail had been stepped on—

Tierra seemed to see the staff member's hair stand on end.

Gilderoy approached him first. The wizard held up a long, thin, and resilient golden rod, like a car antenna, and swept it across Gilderoy Lockhart's chest and back from top to bottom. "A wand," the wizard at the security checkpoint muttered to Gilderoy Lockhart, putting down the golden contraption and extending his hand.

“My wand is destroyed,” Tierra said to Gilderoy Lockhart. “It was destroyed in the fight with the Dark Lord, and I haven’t had a chance to buy a new one.”

“Oh, then let’s go,” the wizard said, then picked up the golden device again and continued scanning Tiera.

"A magic wand," the wizard at the security checkpoint said again.

Tierra handed over the wand. The wizard tossed it onto a strange-looking brass machine that resembled a single-pane balance.

The machine began to vibrate slightly. A narrow strip of parchment swiftly emerged from a slit at the bottom. The wizard tore the parchment off and read the words on it.

"Twelve inches, walnut wood, core made of Dragon Heart Steel, used for two years. Is that right?"

“Yes,” Tierra said.

“I’ll keep this,” the wizard said, sticking the parchment into a small brass nail. “You take this back.”

He shoved the wand into Tiera's hand.

"Thank you," Tierra said politely.

“Wait a minute,” the wizard said slowly, then looked at “Gidrolockhart”—

“Mr. Lockhart,” the security wizard said, “could you please sign your name for me?”

"Eric!" Umbridge suddenly roared, "Don't cause trouble!"

The wizard at the checkpoint was startled. He could only give an embarrassed laugh, then stepped aside to let Tierra in as well.

“I’ll take you to the Department of Law Enforcement to register for adoption first,” Umbridge said as they walked past the security checkpoint. “Then I’ll take you to the Department of Mysteries on the ninth basement level, where Professor Dumbledore and Minister Fudge will be waiting for you. You and they will go down the stairs to the Trial Chamber on the tenth basement level, from where you will travel through a special fly net to Fort Northsea near Azkaban. From there, you will travel by Thestrals to Azkaban.”

Umbridge said obsequiously as he walked toward the elevator.

“Thank you, Senior Deputy Minister,” Tierra said to “Gidrolohart.”

“Hehehe, you’re welcome, Mr. Lockhart,” Umbridge said with a girlish voice.

When the elevator arrived, Umbridge stepped aside and used her hand to block the elevator door. Only after Gilderoy Lockhart and Tierra had entered did Umbridge follow, closing the elevator door just before the other wizards and witches entered.

The elevator lobby was now empty except for the Tierras and Umbridge.

This made Tiera extremely uneasy.

"Second floor, Department of Magical Law Enforcement, we've arrived."

The cold female voice rang out again, but Tiera felt as if it were a blessing from heaven.

Gilderoy Lockhart and Tierra eagerly stepped out of the elevator and, led by Umbridge, headed towards the Magical Law Enforcement Division's doorway 2-13.

“Hehehe, I’ll be waiting for you here. After the adoption process is complete, I’ll take you to the courtroom on the tenth basement level to meet with Minister Fudge and Professor Dumbledore,” Umbridge said with a smile. “Please hand over Mr. Lockhart to me before entering the courtroom.”

"I really like children, and I believe we can become very good friends."

shit!

Thank you Korsi for the 100 points!
Thank you for voting for me in January!
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(End of this chapter)