The Next Gambit

It was maddening. Gideon had been hunting for months to find where the Ministry's secrets were. Certainly there were some in the Department of Mysteries, but it wasn't the information he was looking for. No government could run without secrets and a great many of them, but for some reason all Gideon found was information that was not, in the least, helpful for him. He wanted the deeper, hidden things. The things that weren't just classified but forbidden for anyone to know.

Damned old men! Damn them! Gideon despised old men and everything that went along with them. Their calm attitudes towards almost everything. Their long, long memories, and most of all, he hated Robert Lupin and how, no matter how hard Gideon had tried to eliminate the old codger, he just wouldn't go.

And despite the fact that the old fart hadn't been in the Ministry building for months, but even so, he seemed to be able to keep Gideon largely at a stalemate. Gideon needed whatever it was that Robert was hiding from him. He wanted the Ministry secrets, the deep inner workings.

He left his office and once again started working to find wherever the stronghold of secrets were. He had found locked doors, and had found nothing behind them. He had studied floor plans and had found missing space that turned out to be little more than broom closets. He headed out again to an area just outside the door of the Department of Mysteries. He studied the wall carefully. There had to be something here. There had to be.

He checked to see that no one was around, or at least that he didn't see anyone. He drew his wand and thought a moment. Then he cast a spell at the wall. To his surprise, he was repelled, backwards, into the black marble wall behind him.

Angry, he got himself up to his feet again. Was he onto something at last? Or was it just more of the old man's trickery?

Could desk work be more infuriating? Avery didn't think so. It was dreadful, sitting about for hours when she would have much rather been off to visit the little dragons she treated like children. In truth, the blonde missed them, though she couldn't very well tell anyone or complain about her situation. After all, who would let a pregnant woman anywhere near dragons? Especially baby ones! They hadn't yet learned to control themselves, so there was no doubt that they would be more dangerous than the older ones. Her supervisor was certainly uninterested in letting Avery even check in on them.

So, after filing what little paperwork she had not already blown through, Avery was left sitting about and twiddling her thumbs. So to speak. But it wasn't long before Avery became too impatient to sit still anymore. She was getting to the point of being convinced she would go mad if she didn't get up and do something, so she pushed to her feet, and started wandering the halls of the Ministry.

She turned a corner down by the Department of Mysteries, her gasp of surprise covered up by the sound of the Deputy Minister's magic reacting and pushing him against the opposite wall. Avery stepped back around the corner, pressing her back to the wall as she tried to make her breathing more even. Getting anxious merely made her concerned about the baby, and her hand unconsciously fell to her middle.

She was too curious to let it go, though. Especially after all of her work with Keiran's school, Avery was most certainly not a fan of Gideon. Immediately, a voice in her head that sounded rather like Robin was telling her to find out what he was up to. So Avery sucked in a breath, straightened up, and made her way around the corner once more.

"Oh my gosh," she breathed, feigning concern and respect for the man in front of her. "Are you alright, Mr. Pierce? What happened?"

"Ah..I'm fine," he said, brushing himself off and managing to look appropriately embarrassed with himself.

"I confess--my curiosity got the better off me.I found an old floor plan.It showed a hidden entrance to the department of mysteries on that wall. I wanted to see if it's still there. I prefer not to have big mysterious secrets here anymore. That's old school, cold war politics. Its not something we need here. Evidently, either the old enchantment on it doesn't work anymore or it never existed in the first place. Well, then, I guess, for now, that's that, isn't it?...."

As he was speaking, the door of the Department of Mysteries opened, and Michael Tremaine stepped out into the hallway, the thought thread vials he'd just found in his pocket. He needed a seer to decipher them, but they'd been well buried--until now.

He saw Gideon Pierce and Avery Ivanov there. Avery, he'd always thought, was alright. Gideon, Michael believed, was rotten to the core.

"Everything alright?" he asked.

"Oh, fine, fine," Gideon laughed. "As I was telling Ms. Ivanov. I found an old floor plan that showed an doorway right through this spot. I had to try it. Curiosity, you know."

"Too bad," Michael said, trying to be appropriately outwardly sympathetic, "but I"m afraid the only thing you'd have found on the other side of that brick is my desk. Sorry to disappoint you."

"Can't blame me for wanting a bit of adventure, though, now?" he grinned. "If you'll excuse me, I think my tea break is now sufficiently over. I need to get back to business. Ms. Ivanov, Mr. Tremaine." He nodded, and turned rather quickly, heading back to his office.

Michael stood and watched him, not believing a syllable he'd just heard. He looked at Ms. Ivanov.

"Hidden doorways?" he asked her skeptically.

"I'm sure," Avery replied slowly, lifting an eyebrow briefly, before realizing she had done so and relaxing her features. Lucky for Gideon, she didn't get a chance to point out that this wasn't the first time she had seen him doing something suspicious. Michael, who Avery knew of through assignments that crossed between departments, came in at just the right time, ensuring that she kept her mouth shut until the Deputy Minister had left.

"It's Mrs," she muttered uselessly, knowing the man probably didn't care enough to ask after her actual marital status. How he even knew her name at all, she couldn't say, considering she had done her best to keep off of his radar. Perhaps she hadn't actually thought that one through. It didn't matter what he said, she wasn't buying what he was trying to sell her. Not for a moment. She would admit, though, he certainly did give it a bit of a go, didn't he? The man had always struck her as odd, if not a bit greasy in his actions.

Turning back to Michael, she realized she was expected to answer his half-formed question. "I seriously doubt it," she replied carefully, fidgeting as she wanted to cross her arms but knowing she would just feel uncomfortable doing so. Instead, she lifted a hand to pass her fingers through her hair instead. "He's been doing strange things like this for ages now, actually. Poking around when nothing seems to need investigating. He claims he doesn't want any mysterious secrets anymore, but it seems more like he just wants to know everything that's going on. Maybe things that even he shouldn't have access to.

"I mean, he may be the Deputy Minister, but you'll forgive me for pointing out that he's been a little less than helpful." Sighing, Avery glanced over her shoulder at where Gideon had headed, half expecting him to still be there, listening in. She knew her words could get her into trouble, but frankly she was beyond caring at that point. The man had done too many bad things already, and it seemed like he just wanted to cause more problems.

Michael listened to Avery telling him that Gideon had been sneaking around for a long time. It would have amused him if there wasn't such a significant threat in it.

"Well, you and I both know that every government has secrets and classified information. Ours is no different. However, I am presuming that if, in fact, there are secrets that our Mr. Pierce cannot access it must be for one of two reasons. Either, first, our Minister has not seen fit to give him the locations and the ways to access that information. Or, if the protections are enchantments, the enchantments themselves do not deem him fit to have access. Either way, this is something that Robert needs to know."

One of the young interns from the mail room came down the hallway with a wheeled metal cart full of mail. He mindlessly handed them both an office memo.

"What's this?" Michael asked.

"Oh, some big press conference Mr. Pierce is doing. Something about new laws or something. I don't get it," the kid said, shrugging. "Wants us all to be there. And I was supposed to have the day off too. Memo says its mandatory."

Michael scanned the memo. This reeked of a big move. It reminded Michael of Gideon moving to try to put Robert in check. Gideon must surely have something up his sleeve, Michael frowned. This was not good. Not good at all.

"You off too, Mr. Tremaine?" the kid asked, seeing Michael's unhappiness.

"Uh...yeah. Something like that," Michael said.

"Too bad," the kid said, leaving them, pushing the cart on down the hallway. Michael looked back at Avery.

"Why does this seem rather ominous?" he frowned.

It was lucky for both of them that Michael had come to the end of his sentence before the boy from the mail room came by. After all, it certainly kept him from asking them questions, and allowed Michael to do so instead. Avery, for one, was rather pleased with the possibility of just reading the memo while Michael asked after what was going on. By the time the boy left, Avery was pursing her lips and furrowing her brow in distaste.

"It definitely does," Avery agreed. "But more new laws? What is he expecting to accomplish, anyway? People already think the world is going mad."

Shaking her head, she sighed and let her hand fall to the side, only just holding onto the memo with her fingertips. Looking up at Michael again, Avery shifted her wait anxiously. "So, let's think about this objectively. If he really wants to present new laws, he probably would have just done so. Something else - something bigger - is happening here. Whether that's to do with his changes at Hogwarts, or the magical creatures being targeted, or even the supposed reform in areas like health or in our departments..."

She shook her head once more. "I don't think it matters exactly what he's after, so long as he gets the attention he wants. This isn't about what this memo says," she said, lifting it and waving it about. "Gideon wants something, and he's trying to find the right way to get it.

"No," Michael said thoughtfully.  "You're on the right track, but, he's not done any sort of public appearance. Not like this. He's been actually very reclusive, even for those of us who work here."

It was true.  It was not at all unusual for Robert to be seen in any of the hallways, talking to anyone and everyone who worked at the Ministry. He was far from reclusive.  His reclusiveness had only come after an assassin had almost killed him just a little over a year ago.  Khaat's necessity for bodyguards and her reclusiveness had come because of idiots that kept trying to kill her.  Robert had taken no such precautions for himself. When he did choose some backup, Michael was always at the top on Robert's list.  Robert, like his brother Remus, had a strong preference in surrounding himself and his family with people he trusted.

"Think a moment, not only has Pierce issued new laws without being seen, but the Hogwarts take over was done without his needing to be seen as well.  He doesn't need to be seen to do much of anything...."

Except...Michael's brain sent off a silent alarm, silent warning. His brain raced, his blood running cold. Except one...He needs just one more thing....

"There is only one thing I can think of that he cannot do except in very public view," he said to Avery softly. "He's got to be making a move to unseat Robert.  And if he manages that, heaven help us all. Remember, every law, every edict he's passed, he's signed Robert's name to, and he's included that odd little bit about it needing to be Robert Lupin himself to reverse it. If Pierce manages to arrange it that Robert is never able to come back, then all this hell we're going through becomes very, very permanent.  And England becomes Pierce's for the taking."