Chapter 346: Beetle Pin

The Minister looked as if he wanted to say something but held back; just then, a knock came at the door, so he naturally ended the conversation and called for the visitor to enter.

The visitor was Ludo Bagman, now head of the Department of Magical Sports and Games.

"Ah, Bagman, I wanted to ask you about replacing the Quidditch Association president…"

Harry drifted into drowsiness; in his view, England's team weakness couldn't be fixed by simply changing its president.

All morning, except for that brief initial exchange with the Minister—which had ended on a sour note—Harry either stared blankly, flipped through documents the Minister had shared with him, or stared blankly at those documents: a mountain of meeting resolutions or endless reports. For every new policy, they drafted a proposal, then wrote a specialized report for every issue raised in the draft, perhaps even formed a dedicated research team, and then each team member had to write their own corresponding specialized report.

This not only created massive obstacles to policy implementation, but also tortured the Minister himself with mountains of paperwork; Harry couldn't understand why anyone would be so passionate about this job.

Yet, after tasting what might have been the most perfect omelet of his life at the Ministry, Harry suddenly began to understand this rather un-magical Minister.

In the afternoon, the Minister had to attend a meeting at Downing Street, and Harry suddenly found himself unattended. After a moment's hesitation, he chose to sit quietly at his desk, continuing his "staring blankly at documents" work routine.

At the end of the day's internship, Harry returned to school, and Ron curiously asked what he had done.

"Nothing," Harry shrugged. "Just like the Minister usually does—nothing at all."

"Looks like we're about the same," Ron said without surprise or disbelief; instead, he looked perfectly understanding. "Dobby spent the morning reading newspapers and even shared some with me. In the afternoon, he accompanied the Minister to a meeting with Muggles, so I stayed in the Auror office and kept reading newspapers."

"You're luckier than me—I had to read documents," Harry said with a wry smile. "At least newspapers have pictures."

"I just found out that although the Ministry doesn't have many Aurors, it actually has a lot of Beaters," Ron said. "Beaters are law enforcers too, but they mostly chase petty thieves, so they're ranked below Aurors."

"Beaters can be promoted to Aurors," Harry nodded. "In other words, if you can't meet the Auror standard, you can start as a Beater."

They chatted for a while, then worked on homework together until Neville finally returned to the dormitory, looking exhausted, after Harry finally forced Ron to finish his Potions assignment.

"Why are you back so late? Were you in the library?" Ron asked casually. "Did they give you anything to read?"

"I guess it was theory—time and space, relative dimensions, that kind of thing," Harry said offhandedly.

"Serpents," Neville said weakly. "The Department of Mysteries is renovating a room—it's supposed to be for keeping serpents. I was helping out."

After a brief moment of daze, Harry instantly realized: that room was for Nagini.

"You're not working overtime, are you?" Ron exclaimed, eyes wide. "You look so tired."

"No, the construction workers left on schedule. I stayed behind on purpose," Neville glanced warily at the door. "I overheard a rumor—the Department of Mysteries hides something the Dark Lord wants."

"Are you looking for that thing?" Harry asked. He vaguely suspected the "thing the Dark Lord wants" was just gossip—referring to Nagini.

"Yes, but I haven't found anything," Neville sighed. "Many rooms are locked."

After a brief silence, Neville continued: "I found a room filled with many brains, and another large empty room with a stone archway draped in a curtain. Beyond that, I found nothing."

"But why are you searching? And why risk this on your first day at the Ministry?" Ron said. "Everyone knows Voldemort is finished—he's not coming back. Why bother with this?"

"No, Voldemort could still return—I've never let my guard down," Neville said sharply. "And who told you the Dark Lord must mean Voldemort?"

"What?" Ron instinctively looked at Harry.

"Death Eaters seem to be choosing a new Dark Lord," Neville whispered. "Didn't you say Voldemort trained a successor?"

"A Horcrux. Ninety-nine percent chance it's a Horcrux," Neville declared.

"Uh, I need to correct something," Harry said, scratching his head awkwardly. "All existing Horcruxes have been revealed: Lucius, Bellatrix, Regulus, Snape, and Ho Fa each hold one. The diary is at Torchwood, nominally under student control; the ring is held by the Order of the Phoenix. That's seven—no more."

"But Voldemort might have made eight—or even nine," Neville said.

"First, Voldemort was obsessed with the number seven," Harry explained. "Second, after his resurrection, he made only one new Horcrux—because he calculated it would complete the number seven. He could've made more, but didn't."

"How can you be sure he didn't?" Neville shook his head. "Suppose Voldemort believed nine was also magical—after all, people in the Celestial Empire favor nine. He could've secretly made two more Horcruxes, one hidden in the Ministry. It's entirely possible."

Harry didn't want to complicate things—no matter how many Horcruxes Voldemort had, he couldn't return. So he suggested: "You should first ask who started this rumor—and what their goal is."

"A construction worker mentioned it offhand. I asked him where he got the information," Neville said. "He said that when he received the order to work at the Department of Mysteries, an old friend he hadn't heard from in years contacted him—this man was a Death Eater. He said it was the Dark Lord's mission: he'd once planned to steal something from the Department of Mysteries but never found the chance."

"How long ago was 'once'?" Harry seized the temporal modifier. "Was this 'Dark Lord's order' from Voldemort himself—or his successor?"

"Perhaps from Voldemort himself," Neville rubbed his chin. "If so, then it might not be a Horcrux at all—or at most, something Voldemort intended to turn into one."

"Exactly. If Voldemort truly wanted something, he'd come and take it," Ron agreed.

"It could be a weapon—the Ministry developed some immensely powerful weapon, hidden in the Department of Mysteries, and Voldemort wants to steal it to kill Dumbledore," Harry recalled Voldemort's mental state—he'd always obsessed over "how to defeat and kill Dumbledore."

"Dumbledore!" Neville suddenly clapped his hands. "If anyone understands Voldemort deeply—even better than the Death Eaters do—it's Dumbledore."

"So?"

"That pin—the Time-Turner," Neville hastily pulled the pin Dumbledore had left him from his shirt. "Maybe that's what he meant—I saw in the Department of Mysteries that all Time-Turners are kept in a glass cabinet there."

The three stared at the pin for a moment. Harry saw nothing unusual and could only shrug helplessly. "Maybe Dumbledore just wanted to hint at the Tempus Charm? Like my Snitch—it opened empty. I suspect he was teaching me a lesson in political maneuvering."

"Wonderful—he wants to teach me a lesson in fairy tales," Ron teased. "The old bee never changed his riddling ways, even in death."

Harry didn't take this seriously—he believed the most important thing in the Department of Mysteries was the TARDIS, and they'd surely stored everything inside it.

After finishing his homework, Harry wrote a letter to Sirius, asking if Tonks had found anything resembling a weapon inside the TARDIS. He mailed it Saturday morning and received a reply Saturday night.

"I'll pick you up early tomorrow—we can search together in Gilmour. Also, if you plan to attend the afternoon gathering, you'd better tell Snape."

Harry knew he meant Ho Fa's attendance. He hadn't gone in a long time. Since they'd agreed to use Nagini to choose the new Dark Lord, Harry assumed Ho Fa, given his personality, had stormed off to find Horcruxes on his own—and hadn't returned to the Death Eater gatherings. He even suspected the gatherings had lost all meaning, becoming just another mindless weekly meeting the Minister had to attend.

With a mix of curiosity and unease, Harry knocked on the Headmaster's office door, wanting to ask Snape if Ho Fa still had any tasks to perform.

"You've overlooked something, Potter," Snape said slowly. "I, Regulus, and Bellatrix know about Saruman—but Lucius and Ho Fa don't. And they don't know we know. We still need to formally announce this at the meeting. Yes—and William must know too."

"But aren't you saying my Occlumency still needs work?" Harry asked.

"That's just setup—I'm telling a story to others. You go as Ho Fa," Snape handed him several sheets of parchment. "If you plan to attend tomorrow, I'll tell it then—because some details require Ho Fa's input to complete."