Chapter Eight
Confronting the Faceless 💀 CompleteOctober 21-23, 1997
"The Ministry has fallen"
Kent Sylvester is not a stupid man, despite what some of his friends and coworkers might imply (usually jokingly, though he's not sure about some of the older trainers). He's a bit stubborn, definitely, and enjoys an adrenaline rush just fine but what self-respecting Hit Wizard doesn't? Neither of those things mean he's oblivious to the eyes watching him at every hour of the day, waiting for him to slip up and show his true loyalties.
It's been over two months now since the Ministry fell, and though it was mostly a quiet takeover Kent can see it in the little things. The biggest of which, for him, is the fact he hasn't been dispatched on a mission since July. Under Scrimgeour the entirety of the Auror branch was constantly in motion, constantly following new leads on Dark activities or hunting down Azkaban escapees.
Now with Thicknesse the entire Law Enforcement Department has practically ground to a halt - only the necessary maintenance branches are still running as normal. Even the Patrol has been hijacked by the crazy Japanese lady for her Muggleborn hunting group, leaving actual criminals to run about causing havoc unchecked. There had been three fires in Diagon Alley this week alone that had raged needlessly out of control for hours before being reined in and doused.
For two months it's felt like the Department has been holding it's breath, and Kent officially feels like his lungs are about to burst. The sole thing that's stopped him so far from committing some grand act of rebellion and vanishing into the night is the message he'd gotten a little over a week after the Ministry had fallen.
When the time comes, we will call on you. Until then, stay low and stay ready. Listen for the magpie's theft.
The letter had been slipped under his door, and he knows the handwriting, otherwise he'd be suspicious. But Laurel Kiddell - Hobbes, whatever, he'll probably never get used to her new last name - had never steered him wrong in her three years as his Quidditch Captain back at Hogwarts, so he trusts her now as well.
Still, the waiting is slowly killing him, and after an incident the week before he's about ready to burst.
"Breathe dude, you look ready to explode." His roommate informs him one morning as they get ready to head into work. Drake Jarvis is Kent's little sister Evera's best friend and a fellow Hit Wizard. Initially Drake and Evera had both been bunking with Kent, supposedly just as a stepping stone to getting on their own feet, but while Evera had indeed packed up and gotten her own place a little over a year ago now, Drake has utterly failed to give any indication he's even looking for alternative living conditions.
"Like you can talk, you nearly got yourself suspended last week." Kent counters pointedly. "You know we're being watched and you still tried to initiate a disapproved investigation." Not that Kent can blame him - he'd been furious as well when their request to open a missing persons case on Donaghan Tremlett had been rejected by Yaxley.
Tremlett not only is a very well-known figure in the Wizarding world, being the bassist for the famous Weird Sisters, he's also a close friend of theirs, having married Evera's other best friend Jemma two years ago. Kent honestly hadn't thought the Muggleborn Registration Commission would be able to touch him considering his celebrity status, but two weeks ago he'd vanished from his and Jemma's apartment, leaving her distraught and begging her three Hit Wizard friends for help (a disturbing enough sight on it's own even without the distressing context - Jemma has always been startlingly put together, even back when she was a tiny first year).
"Being watched maybe." Drake sighs, grimacing at his cereal. "Still not sold on that you know, nothing has actually happened since the regime change. I know Yaxley is a supervisor and obviously everything is going to high hell but other than not getting assignments we don't really have any more supervision than we did before."
Kent raises an eyebrow. "How you passed your exams I'll never know." He teases lightly, though there's little levity behind it. "Didn't you notice that all the trainers and captains we've been working with since August were Slytherins in school?"
Drake raises an eyebrow. "So? Travers was in my year and sure she wasn't great but she's a good worker. And Shacklebolt is the most respected Captain in an age, bar none. And that's by every House - heck, I'm pretty sure Tonks might've actually forgotten which House he used to be in."
"Tonks also married a werewolf who's suspected to be working with Fenrir's pack." Kent points out wryly. He isn't completely sold on that bit of trivia himself, but the Auror rumor mill rarely produces material that doesn't have at least a little bit of basis in fact.
Drake just scoffs and goes back to scarfing down his breakfast.
They go into work together, though Drake breaks off towards one of the other training rooms once they reach the second floor - he and Evera are on a different squad than Kent is, and frankly he's rather thankful for that. He'd probably end up distracted in the field worrying about the two of them doing something stupid and get himself killed, knowing his luck.
"Lunch in the Alley today?" Drake checks before they part ways.
"Bring my sister, I'd like to be reminded what her face looks like." Kent grins, and Drake laughs before waving him off. Kent heads to the senior training room to meet up with his own team and get a few warmup drills in before they start in on whatever BS paperwork Yaxley has lined up for them to do today.
He's one of the first ones to arrive - only two other people are in the room when he opens the door and one of them is the Trainer for the day - Fulton if he remembers correctly, one of the older Trainers, and, as Kent had pointed out to Drake, a Slytherin.
The other person there is also a former snake, but Kent likes this one a whole lot more than Fulton.
"Heya partner." He grins, dropping down next to Theodore Yaxley and starting to stretch.
Theo glances over and offers a lopsided grin of his own. It had taken some time to work past Theo's outer defences and school-hardened House biases, but as it turns out he's a pretty chill guy underneath everything - certainly not the worst partner he could have. Of course, with everything that's gone down Kent isn't sure if he completely trusts his partner anymore, especially considering who Theo is related to.
"No chance you managed to convince your uncle to give us something interesting to do today?" Kent continues talking, used to holding up the conversation between himself and Theo this early in the morning - his partner is not and early bird by any stretch.
Theo half-shrugs and the grin drops into a grimace. "Don't have much control over him." He points out wryly. "There is a hierarchy in the family you know."
"Weird- pureblood politics." Kent replies without missing a beat, and Theo huffs out a laugh that's trying very hard to not be a laugh.
"Don't let the boss hear you say that." He mumbles, turning back to his stretches.
Kent doesn't mind Theo's quieter nature (in the workplace at least, he definitely gets louder when they go out for drinks after hours) - he himself rather enjoys talking so their dynamic works quite well for them. While they aren't the top pair in their division they rank consistently well in their evaluations which is necessary for their line of work.
So Kent fills the space between them with idle chatter, mostly about the Quidditch season that had started a few weeks back since he knows that's a topic both of them are interested in - technically they had met when on opposing teams back in Hogwarts. Theo occasionally drops an opinion or observation but is mostly content to let Kent prattle on.
Eventually the rest of the squad shows up and they get to actually training. A lot of their team are Gryffindors and Kent catches Fulton glaring at people's turned backs more than once.
Kent really doesn't think it's just because Fulton is a grump.
Training goes a bit long that day so they don't get much paperwork done before lunch break starts but it's still more desk work than Kent ever wanted to deal with in his life.
He invites Theo to join him for lunch, which he often does and has continued to do to maintain a level of normalcy with the other, but as usual his parter refuses and heads for the employee lunch room. Kent just shrugs and swings by the junior level to pick up Drake and Evera.
"Jemma might join us today, if she doesn't have an emergency." Evera announces as they head out. "She owled me this morning about it."
"When does Mungo's Trauma Ward not have an emergency?" Drake points out dryly. "Don was the one who used to drag Jemma out to socialize, remember?"
Evera winces, and Kent quickly jumps into the conversation.
"Did you two hear about the massive row in the Patrol HQ yesterday? Brown said that Nakayashi and one of those Snatchers really got into it over something."
Evera snorts. "Didn't hear about it big bro, actually heard it. And Nakayashi didn't do any yelling, that woman is terrifyingly calm in every situation." She shudders. "I hate how often she's in Patrol HQ these days, it's right next to our primary training room. Anyway, it was that Wong girl she got in a fight with, one of Moldypant's people that's moved into the Ministry. Wong was whining about Nakayashi not taking things seriously - it was kind of pathetic if I'm honest."
Drake laughs. "It was, but it's pretty common. Wong is loud and angry about pretty much everything."
"I find that's typical with teenagers." Kent jokes, finally placing the name 'Wong' with the face of an Asian nineteen year old who'd started working out of the Auror department only two weeks before as part of the new Fugitive Recovery Unit, more commonly referred to as the Snatchers (when no one from the Unit is around to hear it, anyway).
Lunch at least stays light after that, the conversation drifting primarily into Quidditch as they're all former players and current enthusiasts of the game. Laurel's name comes up a few times and Kent tamps down on the urge to say something referencing the note - for one thing it could give him away if anyone is watching them, and for another Evera and Drake don't know about it so it would fall flat anyway.
The rest of the day absolutely drags on, the one bright point coming when Kingsley Shacklebolt comes by to check in on their team and chats with Kent for a few minutes before moving on. Then it's back to the grind and Kent thanks every deity he can think of when five finally rolls around and he's able to bolt out the door.
Drake is already at the lift when Kent walks up. "Evera headed home, but she said to call you a dunderhead and ask how paperwork was." He declares solemnly and Kent can only laugh, too pleased by the workday being over to rise to his sister's second-hand taunting.
"Evera's insults are slipping, I found yesterday's farewell far more inventive." He declares as the roommates descend in the lift. "Where should we get tonight's takeout?"
They debate the pros and cons of having Italian versus Chinese for dinner that night, and Kent's Italian wins out when he points out they had some sort of Asian food for five days straight the week before. He knows Drake doesn't really care since it's Kent's turn to pay - the debate is just a typical Tuesday routine at this point of their cohabitation.
They swing by their usual Italian place - a great mom and pop type restaurant on the Muggle side of London - and take their food back to the flat where they immediately put on the radio to the sports channel.
Drake laughs when he hears the voice that comes through. "Well , looks like Leona finally made it onto WWW. Good for her, she never shut up about that in school."
Leona Poole had been in Drake, Jemma, and Evera's year in school, and she'd been Quidditch announcer during Kent's final year so he actually does remember her.
"Good for her." He agrees idly, only half-paying attention to the reports once he realizes Leona isn't covering an actual game but is debating statistics for upcoming ones with whoever her cohost is.
He's only picking up on every few words for a while, but then Leona says something that latches onto his brain and demands attention.
"I'm just saying Henry, I think the Montrose Magpies could steal the victory from the Ballycastle Bats next week." Leona declares, some of her inflection sounding a bit weird but not enough that a normal listener would register it. But Kent does.
He's reread Laurel's letter a dozen times at least since receiving it, and he'd always wondered at the odd last sentence. Listen for the magpie's theft.
Leona just dropped the code phrase, and Kent feels something in his gut spike hot and excited. This is finally it - whatever he's been waiting for will be happening soon.
Drake glance over at him oddly. "You that excited about a Montrose win? I thought you were a steadfast Arrows fan."
Kent blinks, remembering that Drake has never read the letter and he probably looks a bit insane to his roommate right at this moment. "Ah, no, something else." He grins over, mentally debating whether to tell Drake the whole truth yet. He knows he will eventually - Drake will want to help, as will Evera - but the other Hit Wizard isn't always the most subtle person in the world. The longer he goes not knowing details the less likely it is he'll accidentally give something away. "I'll tell you later."
Drake just raises an eyebrow and turns back to demolishing his food. Kent eats at a more sedate pace - his stomach is still churning in excitement and he doesn't want to throw up.
That night he pulls out the letter again and runs a finger over the sentence, wondering if there's some sort of magic code he can unlock now that he's heard the phrase. He grabs for his wand to start checking when a blue lynx bursts into his room. He blinks in surprise but his training stops him from physically startling.
He of course recognizes that the animal is a Patronus, though he isn't familiar with the caster (Laurel's is a goose so it definitely isn't her). Whoever it is though, he bets they're with Laurel and presumably Leona in whatever rebellion currently being cooked up.
He settles on his bed and focuses on the lynx as it likewise takes on a sitting position in midair before it's jaw drops open and a familiar voice pours out.
"In two days' time there will be a transfer of captured Muggleborns to Azkaban. Both Hit Wizard teams will be on the transfer, and there will be a bid to free the prisoners by the Order of the Phoenix. Recruit anyone you think is trustworthy and be prepared to fight your former coworkers." Kingsley Shacklebolt is, even in Patronus form, all business and Kent respects that. For his part he's surprised he hasn't vibrated through his bed in his excitement. He definitely knows two people who he'll be recruiting onto the team.
He falls back onto his bed as the Lynx vanishes and lets his mind whirl. The Order of the Phoenix sounds familiar, but he can't quite place the name at the moment. Still, he has something else he needs to do before he latches on to obsessing over it. Pulling out his wand he summons his own Patronus.
The white stallion bursts forth with some effort - Kent hadn't gotten his Patronus corporeal until his very last year of Hit Wizard training and even now he has some difficulty with it - and immediately lunges at his closet before realizing there are no dementors to fight, at which point it turns to Kent and gives him what he would swear to be an annoyed look.
"Sorry buddy, just need to get a message to Evera." He tells it, and then quickly repeats what Kingsley's Patronus had told him - plus mentioning that he'll tell Drake tomorrow after work - before sending his stallion off to his sister.
He spends the rest of the night barely able to sleep from a mix of excitement and continual attempts at trying to remember where he'd heard the name 'Order of the Phoenix' before. It comes to him just before he falls asleep: the Order had been Dumbledore's resistance force again Voldemort in the first war.
Kent dreams that night of Dumbledore rising from the ashes and smiting the Dark Lord once again. He wakes up feeling especially energized.
That morning Evera is waiting for them by the lifts as they reach the Ministry atrium. "Morning boys!" She says cheerfully. "Just wanted to confirm I got your owl Kent."
"Owl?" Drake asks in confusion.
Evera waves him off lazily. "Mum's birthday is next week, we're coordinating gifts." She explains easily, grinning at her best friend. Kent is just glad she obviously agrees with keeping Drake out of the loop until the last possible second.
That day in training feels a lot more draining than usual, not in the least because Kent spends a good third of the class debating with himself if he trusts Theo enough to talk to him. Sure he's Slytherin, and he's a Yaxley, but he hasn't really shown signs of being that loyal to his uncle. And beyond that, they've been partners for years - Kent has repeatedly trusted Theo with his life on past raids. It feels strange to keep him out of the know now.
But ultimately he says nothing, despite a deep, gnawing want to. For all Theo hasn't shown loyalty to his family line, he hasn't shown any indication he disagrees with them either.
Kent collects two other Hit Wizards for the operation and at lunch Evera mentions that she'd spoken with four people herself. That puts nine out of twenty four people on the transport on their side. It's not a majority, but Kent imagines some member of the Order will show up to help, and there will likely be some non-rebellers who simply won't fight back.
"You've been quiet today." Theo observes when Kent gets back from lunch.
Kent quickly pulls on a grin. "Did you want to hear all about the wonders of gift coordination? My sister has absolutely terrible gifting ideas so I'm basically buying for both of us right now. You're lucky you don't have any siblings."
Theo eyes him a moment longer before giving a half grin. "It was pretty great being first in everything." He agrees with the usual edge of arrogance that his voice never quite seems to drop.
Kent does make a more concerted effort to chat with Theo after that - they always banter during the afternoon if they're stuck on desk duty (and lately they always are) and it wouldn't do to make anyone suspicious of his change in behavior. He's pretty sure he manages just fine up until Theo snags his arm just as they're getting ready to leave for the day.
"I'm not supposed to tell you this." He says in a low voice, and the knot in Kent's gut loosens infinitesimally. If Theo suspects something he probably wouldn't have opened with that, "But Uncle Corban says we're getting to stretch our legs tomorrow. So you're welcome." He flashes a cocky grin and Kent slaps him on the back with a laugh.
"Way to go Theo! I knew nepotism would work in our favor eventually!"
Theo snorts. "I got this job before he became Head. In fact, I recall beating your arse in every single exam during training." He snarks, and Kent is only too happy to jab back now that he knows Theo isn't suspicious.
It isn't until he gets home an hour later that he wonders if Theo had told him because he knows. Kingsley is a Slytherin and it seems like he's running things on this operation - maybe Theo is part of it as well? Kent hopes so, he'd hate to have to break in a new partner when his current one works so well.
He does finally tell Drake what's up over dinner that night, and his roommate goes on a rant about not being trusted. Kent just shoots back that he'd promised to move out ages ago so does he really expect anyone to trust him after that?
Kent gets a pillow in his face for the comment but it's well worth the look on Drake's.
They're both up early the next morning, neither able to sleep long under the force of their excitement. They end up tossing a Quaffle - Transfigured from a plastic bowl by Kent - back and forth to work off some of the excess energy while waiting for the sun to rise.
"Dude I feel like I'm going to explode. Who else is in on this?" Drake asks as he attempts a trick shot and nearly takes out a picture from Jemma's wedding.
Kent hums, moving to pick up the Quaffle from the floor. "Inside there's Harvey and Bering from my team, and Evera said she got four from your group but I don't know who. Outside I know Laurel is in on it and your friend Leona as well." He doesn't mention Kingsley - Drake still has a few hours to play dumb at work and Kent figures if he does manage to slip he probably shouldn't have the name of the probable insider for the Order.
"Leona wasn't my friend she was a menance. And very helpful, I'm not surprised she's in on this." Drake declares. "And I think I know who Evera would talk to but we're all playing dumb today anyway, right? At least until things go down?" He frowns as he catches Kent's return pass. "How will we know?"
Kent can only shrug. "It's Laurel and Kingsley. I'd be more impressed if there aren't twenty plans upon plans for every possible contingency." He points out. "We'll know."
"I joined the Quidditch team under you, not Laurel." Drake points out. "But I'll take your word for it."
The sun at least is up now, and Kent is finally feeling hungry so he makes them both breakfast and they head into work just a little bit earlier than normal. Kent is pretty sure no one will notice.
"You're early." Theo greets him immediately when he walks out onto the mats.
Kent grins sheepishly. "Okay, I might've been so excited last night I woke up early." He admits.
Theo rolls his eyes. "Gryffindors." He grumbles, and Kent just laughs. He eyes his partner carefully while they stretch and continue chatting, hoping to catch some sort of signal that Theo is on their side, that sharing the information about their job today was... something, at least. Kent is pretty sure they're friends now, even if it's an unconventional friendship at best.
The rest of their team file in soon after nine and after their morning training routine they're informed about the transfer job. Kent elbows Theo lightly and gives him a grin, which is wryly returned.
It isn't until they're outside and ready to collect the cargo that Kent actually starts to feel nervous. Not for himself or his coconspirators - they can all handle themselves just fine. He's worried for the Muggleborns.
The look weary, hungry, and generally not in any state to get caught in the middle of a firefight. If things go badly...
Kent shakes his head and forces himself to focus. Laurel and Kingsley will have a plan. He has to trust that.
The Hit Wizard teams line up in their usual prisoner transfer formations - it's not the first time they've had to guard high-risk criminals after all, though normally those people have been fairly convicted.
Kent takes a few steadying breaths and ignores the curious side-glance he gets from Theo, who is, as always, standing next to him in the formation.
The first twenty minutes are standard procedure - it isn't until they're nearing the warp point where they'll be magically transported onto Azkaban that the Order makes its move.
Kent nearly misses it - the flash of magic, a muted crack of Apparation. Without his training he might have been caught off guard.
As it is, the entire is made up of people with his exact training, so nobody misses it, and within seconds the air lights up with spells.
Kent fires a few harmless stunners into the sky before spinning and firing a distinctly less harmless one straight at Fulton, who was leading the . The man crumples instantly, and Kent's turn serves as a trigger as the other members of the resistance begin firing on their teammates.
It's absolute chaos for a while, but Kent does register the Muggleborns being herded away by a woman with a familiar auburn pixie cut. Once the last of the prisoners is racing away she runs over to Kent and starts assisting him with driving off the remaining enemies.
"Morning Sylvester, nice form." Laurel Kiddell - Hobbes, his brain reminds him - is wearing a facemask and has charmed her eyes green, but Kent could recognize that voice anywhere after years of hearing it shouting on the Quidditch pitch. She grins at him as she tosses up a protection charm around them. "We just need to keep these guys busy for a bit longer and then come find me or one of the other resistors and we'll get you out."
He nods to acknowledge the order and she's off again.
A few more minutes of fighting, and then Kent sees Drake grabbed by one of the outside Order members and be Apparated away. He takes the cue for what it is and scans for his own exit.
Instead his eyes land on a familiar figure, still fighting hard and looking murderous as he bears down on Elizabeth Harvey, who's struggling to both maintain her shield charm and fight back.
Kent feels something drop in his stomach even as he fires a stunner at Theodore Yaxley, forcing his partner - former parter - to turn from Harvey and face Kent instead.
"Somehow I'm not surprised," The blonde man growls, "That even after all these years you're crap at following orders."
"Somehow I am surprised that after all these years you still can't think for yourself." Kent fires back, internally wincing at the phrasing of the sentence. Too vulnerable - a good Hit Wizard would push the advantage, and Theo is a great one. So Kent doesn't let him respond. "It's crazy Theo, I really thought you were a good person. My mistake I guess." He levels a blasting curse at Theo's feet and has latched onto a nearby Order member before the other has recovered his footing. "See you around."
The last thing he sees before he's Side-Along Apparated is Theo's glare.
The world reforms around him and they're in a house that he doesn't recognize, but he does spot several familiar faces in the area as masks are removed.
Harvey is talking with Nymphadora Tonks while the obviously pregnant woman heals a cut on Harvey's arm. Oliver Wood is perched on a couch arm chatting animatedly with Jacob Fawley, who Kent hasn't seen since school but who's looking good despite the obvious recently healed gash on his forehead. And Bill Weasley is seated on the stairs talking quietly with Laurel, who catches Kent staring and waves at him with a grin.
He waves back and then scans the room again for the two people he's most anxious to see are safe. He finds Drake and Evera crouched in a corner, giggling slightly and looking rather punch-drunk but uninjured.
"Well that was a rush." Evera declares when she spots her brother walking over. "I got a Bat-Bogey Hex on Johnson right before I left, he looked furious."
Kent gives her a grin that feels a bit flat. He doesn't know Johnson, but he's glad his sister apparently enjoyed the fight, even if in the aftermath he's mostly feeling drained.
Surprisingly it's Drake who picks up on it. "Dude, you okay? You look bummed for someone who was just on the winning side."
"Theo wasn't." Is all Kent says, and while Drake frowns he sees understanding light up his sister's eyes.
"Maybe he'll come around, you don't know." She offers quietly. "You two were a good team, that sort of bond doesn't just vanish no matter what the circumstances are."
"Sure Ev. You two aren't hurt at all, right?"
"Jemma fixed me up." Drake says. "Did you know she was recruited ages ago and never told us anything? If her husband wasn't MIA I'd be rather angry with her."
Kent lets his sister and his roommate continue chatting around him as he takes in the room. If he's honest, despite the successful transfer interruption he doesn't feel like they've won all that much. The Ministry is still going to arrest Muggleborns, the Snatchers are still out there hunting down the ones that escape. This feels like a temporary fix for a much deeper issue.
Still, he reminds himself firmly that it's better than nothing. And now that he's here and can begin openly working with the Order, he can help them with the more permanent fixes.
He sighs. War is far less glorious than he'd thought it would be - but someone has to fight it, and he supposes they have to start somewhere.
Author's Note: URGH this chapter was hard OTL Here I was thinking "It's Kent! He's from H:aH! I'm used to him!" but NOPE that made it harder because I had to reintroduce SO MUCH this chapter OTL I am very sorry if things are confusing or characters feel rushed in, I swear that won't happen again OTL ;;
Next Week: Coffee and a Kiss
So I'm thinking I might do a final 'afterwords' chapter to share my thoughts and feelings on writing this story, if that's something people would be interested in? I'm also open to answering any lingering questions people might have there as well!
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