The words when left William's mouth sent a ripple of shock through the minds of the ministry trio. A traitor amidst the Unspeakables? It was not something they were able to wrap their heads around. It was almost impossible to believe.
It was no secret that most positions within the Ministry of Magic were not awarded based on merit. Most of the people were hired through recommendations, advocacy, and the heavy handed lobbying of influential pure blood families.
It was a common joke that well paying and prestigious Ministry jobs were unofficially reserved for the descendants of the pure bloods and they took no offense to it.
They considered it, these jobs, their birthright. In their eyes, it was their wealth and taxes that funded the Ministry, so it was only correct that they should command its offices. That they had the ownership over all the prestigious jobs. The society of pure bloods was fragmented on most of the things but this was one aspect where they were united.
However, the Department of Mysteries functioned differently from the rest of the ministry. It recruited people through rigorous procedures and set and definite processes based on pure merit.
No amount of lobbying or family influence could buy a seat among the Unspeakables. And neither of them really dared to cross this mysterious group of people.
Those hired were competent, brilliant, and fiercely loyal to their department. To think that a traitor had emerged from such a group was staggering and shocking.
And yet, the logic was undeniable. Without an Unspeakable to guide them, there was no way the Death Eaters could have breached the hall.
Even someone of Albus Dumbledore's caliber, who had just recently shown his strength, would have required significant time to dismantle the hall's powerful defenses.
"Is this true, Ilvagar?" the Minister asked, his voice shaking and nervous.
William nodded, his expression heavy and stern. Even so, unlike the minister, there was no nervousness or anxiety on it.
The Minister sucked in a sharp, cold breath, his face turning grave. He looked around apprehensively at the other Unspeakables scattered across the hall, all of whom were focused on their work.
"And... they?" the Minister questioned, his eyes darting toward the unspeakables roaming around the hall doing their work.
"They are trustworthy," William replied firmly. "You have my word on that."
He did not explain how he knew or how he had verified it and neither did the minister ask. William Ilvagar's words of reassurance were more than enough for the minister. The Minister nodded in slight relief, though his hands still trembled.
"Have you discovered anything about the traitor's identity?" He whispered.
"I have a few ideas," William replied cryptically. "We are working on it."
It was clear from his clipped response that whatever information William held, he was not yet willing to share. He had divulged exactly what he intended to, and nothing more. Though the Minister longed for more clarity, he could only nod helplessly.
Truthfully, a part of him was glad to be kept in the dark. His table was already overflowing with crises, and he had no desire to be pulled further into the murky, dangerous business of the Unspeakables. It was theirs to handle and it was for the best.
Though the breach represented a massive failure and blunder on the part of the Unspeakables, neither the Minister nor the other influential figures in the Ministry wished to bring too much scrutiny upon the department. At least, not until another blunder was committed.
These Unspeakables were the final and most formidable line of defense for Wizarding Britain. With a heavily compromised ministry, the department of mysteries was their only beacon of hope if things turned worse. The leadership did not want to undermine the department's strength by taking coercive actions that could be avoided, especially when such actions would likely yield no positive results.
"Let us continue," William said, drawing everyone back to the matter at hand.
"Once the intruders gained access to the hall," he explained, "the task became tragically simple."
"For nine formidable, experienced, and powerful men, aided by one traitorous Unspeakable, it was easy to overpower the six guards stationed here. In mere moments, our people, my men, were killed, and the invaders were free to run amok inside this hall."
"Even so," Ilvagar continued, his tone darkening and seething, "forcibly unbinding the Keystone from the control of the Minister and the department heads, and shifting that control to the Dark Lord, should not have been a simple task."
"It is a grueling, complex and time consuming process. Only a master of runes could have achieved it."
"But they succeeded," he sighed, a rare note of defeat coloring his voice.
"They had planned this for months," he added, delivering another shock to the trio.
"What do you mean?" the Minister interjected, his eyes wide.
"What I believe happened, what seems most probable," Ilvagar explained, "is that for months, if not even longer, that traitor had been meticulously recording the runic patterns of the Keystone within memory fragments and delivering them to the Dark Lord."
"The Dark Lord, or perhaps an expert in his service, studied those fragments and crafted a specific unbinding rune tailored to this Keystone," he continued. "It would have required a minimum of a few months to carve out such a complex rune."
"The infiltrators brought that pre carved rune with them and used it to sever your connection to the wards instantly," Ilvagar said. "They had come prepared and had planned everything in advance."
Moody's question cut through the air like a knife, addressing the elephant in the room. The Department of Mysteries was supposed to be a fortress of layered redundancies; a breach of this magnitude should have sounded an alarm that echoed through the very bedrock of London.
A heavy silence settled over the four men, thick with the weight of the betrayal. Once again, it was Alastor Moody who broke it.
"Department Head Ilvagar," he said, his serious voice drawing every eye in his direction.
"I follow your logic, and I understand the sequence of events clearly enough. But there is one detail that has been gnawing at me," he said.
"I suspect that even if the Death Eaters managed to intrude upon this hall and seize the Keystone, you would have known the moment it happened like the minister and every other department head," Alastor stated bluntly.
"So, why did you not descend upon them immediately? Why did you not arrive here with a backup and kill them all? Why did you not take control back?"
"And neither did you or your men shown up in the Wizengamot to fight the Dark Lord," he concluded his remark.
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