The highest security prisoner cells were located so deep below the Ministry of Magic that most people thought that their existence was only a rumour. After all, everyone knew that level ten, where the courtrooms were located, was as low as the Ministry floors went.
Unless, of course, you were one of the select few who knew otherwise. Entry to those cells could be found on level ten, though the entrance to the stairway down to level eleven was magically concealed from all those who did not know the secret. In fact it was a lot like the barrier at Kings Cross Station that granted access to Platform Nine and Three Quarters. Just as any passing Muggle could lean on that barrier all day and never fall through, anyone who did not know where the entrance to level eleven was could lean against the spot in the wall where the entrance was concealed and never actually find their way down.
The secret was known only to the top level of staff found within both the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and the Department of Mysteries, as well as the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot and the Minister for Magic.
John Dawlish and Bertram Savage were two of very few Aurors high ranking enough to be allowed access to level eleven and as such it was they who were given the task of escorting the newly recaptured Sirius Black to his new home.
With magic-suppressing manacles locked securely around his wrists and ankles, chains linking them together, Sirius was in no position to resist as he was dragged along the corridor between the cells. Every so often he got a look at those imprisoned behind bars and was dismayed to see that many of them were either members of The Order of the Phoenix of staff of Hogwarts.
He caught sight of Tonks' purple hair, Moody's electric blue magical eye and though he didn't see him it was obvious which cell contained Mundungus Fletcher just from the smell.
To Sirius' surprise he was not immediately thrown into a cell. He had been under the impression that he would be chucked behind bars for the amount of time it took them to get a Dementor from Azkaban. Instead he was taken to the opposite end of the corridor where a large, heavy door made of iron stood slightly ajar. The door was pushed open and Sirius was shoved into the room beyond.
"He's all yours, boss," said Dawlish before closing the door with a clang. Having contacted their Head of Department after capturing Sirius in Hogsmeade their instructions had been to bring him straight to the interrogation room at the end of level eleven.
"Well, well… Sirius Black, finally back in the hands of the Ministry of Magic."
Sirius wheeled around to find Amelia Bones and Rufus Scrimgeour sitting behind a wooden desk in the centre of the room.
"You seem surprised, Black," observed Scrimgeour.
"Just trying to work out why I am not currently being fed to a Dementor," replied Sirius.
"Oh, believe me," said Amelia "if you had been captured just a few short months ago then that would indeed be the case. However, since then I have had the opportunity to speak with a couple of people, namely one Harry Potter, and the story that they tell is an intriguing one to say the least. I find myself compelled to hear your side of it."
Sirius' eyes widened in surprise "You've spoken to Harry? What happened to him? Why did he vanish over the summer?"
Amelia gave a flick of her wand and the lone chair on the opposite side of the desk slid back.
"Sit down, Black. We have some talking to do."
Sirius sat.
"The first thing we need to establish," began Scrimgeour "is what role you played in the demise of Lily and James Potter on Halloween night, 1981."
Sirius bowed his head sadly. "I suppose you could say it was partly my fault. When they went into hiding beneath the Fidelius charm, James asked me to be their secret keeper. I was honoured that they would trust me with such an important task but I felt that I was too obvious. James and I were best friends… almost brothers. I thought that if anyone wanted to find their secret keeper, I would be the first one that they would look for."
"So you weren't their secret keeper?" asked Scrimgeour, looking for clarification.
"No. I convinced them to change it to Wormtail."
"Wormtail?"
"Peter Pettigrew. Wormtail was the nickname we gave him at Hogwarts. We thought it was the perfect plan. Peter wasn't all that smart or skilled. He wasn't powerful. We thought that Peter would be the last person the Death Eaters would go after. Of course, we didn't know the truth…"
"What truth?" pressed Amelia.
"That he was already a Death Eater."
"Pettigrew? A Death Eater?" exclaimed Scrimgeour.
"Dumbledore formed The Order of the Phoenix to try and combat Voldemort. We knew that someone was leaking information, had been for around a year. I am ashamed to admit that I thought it was Remus Lupin. I thought that perhaps the stigma of being a Werewolf had finally become too much for him and he had joined the other werewolves who had already aligned themselves with the Death Eaters.
"That night when everything went wrong, I sensed something was wrong. I don't know what it was, but something told me that I had to go and check on Peter. I went to the little apartment we had secured for him in Muggle London, where he was supposed to be laying low and found it empty. There were no signs of a struggle but I still feared the worst and took my flying motorcycle straight to Godric's Hollow. The house was wrecked, James and Lily were dead, and Harry was in his cot, crying his eyes out."
"Was there any sign that anyone else had been there?" asked Amelia.
"I don't think so…" replied Sirius. "There was a pile of singed, black robes, all that was left of Voldemort, I suppose."
"Yes, records indicate that much," said Amelia. "Was there any sign of a wand?"
"Not that I can remember," answered Sirius, honestly. "Why?"
"We scoured that house from top to bottom looking for that wand. The conclusion we came to is that it either vanished along with Voldemort's body, or –"
"Or somebody else came along to take it," finished Sirius. "I suppose there is a chance that Wormtail was there that night…"
"Why didn't you take the Potter boy?" asked Scrimgeour, trying to get the conversation back on topic. "You were his Godfather. Why leave him there?"
"It was my intention to. I took him out of his cot and held him close. He quieted down in the presence of someone familiar. I bundled him up in some blankets and salvaged some of his things from the rubble… a few changes of clothes, his favourite teddy bear, that sort of thing. Anyway, I got downstairs and out the front door, only to find my way blocked by Hagrid."
"Hagrid?" asked Scrimgeour. "Rubeus Hagrid? What on earth would he be doing there?"
"He said something about being sent by Dumbledore. I don't know… so much of what happened is a haze… Dumbledore must have had some sort of way of getting alerted in the event of the Fidelius charm falling, though why he didn't come himself…"
"Did Hagrid say why Dumbledore had sent him?"
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