Chapter 29: Field Trip

(General POV)

 "Alright now, line up here! Single file, please!" Professor Callahan called out to the excited second-years who could hardly wait to begin their trip to the Ministry. Currently all of the second-years from every house were gathered together in the History of Magic classroom, and everyone, even the Slytherins were excited.

"QUIET!" Callahan's voice boomed out, silencing the room that had ignored his words thus far.

"Before we go to the Ministry, there are some rules you all will need to know. For starters, I don't want anyone running off on their own. The Ministry can be a dangerous place if you don't know where you're going, so there is the chance you could be killed if you accidentally enter restricted areas." Callahan warned, earning a few worried glances from some of the children.

"Relax, Neville. Didn't you say your Gran was going to be there? I doubt she'd let anything bad happen to you." Godric said, trying to comfort a worried Neville. "That's what has me so worried. I love my gran, but she terrifies me." Neville replied, looking more worried than he was before.

Godric felt as though he would need to sit Neville down one day and get all of the stories about his life, and then maybe he might be able to make sense of his fellow Gryffindor.

 Professor Callahan listed off a dozen more rules that everyone would need to follow, then gestured towards the fireplace that the headmaster had put in his office only a few weeks ago.

"We will be travelling to the Ministry by Floo powder. Now, who here can tell me when the Floo Network was created?" Callahan asked, hoping to see if anyone had been paying attention in last week's lesson. Raising her hand, Hermione excitedly waved her hand. Sadly she had been a second slower than Rowena, who Callahan pointed to.

"It was created in the year 1310 by Ignatia Wildsmith. She was in Ravenclaw house here at Hogwarts, and after being locked out of the house common room for two days because she didn't know the riddle to get in, she cleverly invented a way to get around closed doors." Rowena answered smartly, earning a smile from the professor. "Well done! Five points to Ravenclaw!" Callahan said, awarding points for the answer.

 Once more he gave a little rundown on the Floo Network, mostly for the muggle-born who had yet to experience using Floo Powder. "Before we go, I will walk down the line, and when I stand in front of you, I want you to repeat 'Ministry of Magic' as clearly as you can. We'll start with you Mr. Weasley." Callahan instructed the red-haired boy who was standing at the back of the line.

Being the center of attention, Ron audibly gulped before he stuttered out the words, much to the amusement of everyone else and the annoyance of their professor. "Come now, Mr. Weasley. Take this seriously." Callahan scolded, after silencing the room once more. Thankfully Ron said it clearly the second time, and everyone else down the line said it correctly as well.

 "Excellent. Now, Mr. Ingstrom here will give you a demonstration." Callahan said as he gestured to a man who had been standing at the back of the room. Upon hearing his name, the man walked over to the fireplace.

"Now class, pay attention. Mr. Ingstrom is an Auror. Today, he and some of his colleagues will help guide us around the Ministry, and it is important that we do everything they say. Once you appear in the Ministry of Magic, Mr. Ingstrom will be waiting for you. Go stand beside him until everyone else has arrived. I will go last to make sure we all get there." Callahan explained, getting a "Yes Sir" from the entire class.

 Everyone watched the Auror toss the handful of floo powder at his feet and get enveloped by green flames before he suddenly disappeared. One by one, everyone stepped into the fireplace before doing as they had been instructed until they all found themselves gathered in a long room with more than a hundred fireplaces.

Thankfully the Aurors waiting at the Ministry were prepared and had gathered up all of the students rather quickly from whatever random gate they happened to appear at. When Callahan arrived he did a headcount of all the children, making sure no one was missing. With everyone accounted for, he began to lead them all further down the Atrium halls, which just so happened to be on Level 8 of the Ministry floors.

 The floor was polished dark wood, the ceiling was peacock blue with golden symbols moving across it, and the décor radiated magic, leaving most of the students in awe. Halfway down the hall was a fountain. A group of golden statues, larger than life-size, stood in the middle of a circular pool.

Tallest of them all was a noble-looking wizard with his wand pointing straight up in the air. Grouped around him were a beautiful witch, a centaur, a goblin, and a house-elf. The last three were all looking adoringly up at the witch and wizard. Glittering jets of water were flying from the ends of the two wands, the point of the centaur's arrow, the tip of the goblin's hat, and each of the house-elf's ears.

 The group of students paused as they stood before the statue, at which point professor Callahan turned to address them. "Does anyone know the name of this fountain?" He asked, and a number of students raised their hands. It was Blaise Zabini who answered, "It is the Fountain of Magical Brethren."

"Correct. Now, does anyone know what it represents?" Callahan asked, and once more a few students raised their hands. "The fountain represents harmony in the wizarding world between witches and wizards and the different races." A boy from Hufflepuff answered, getting a nod from Callahan, though a scoff from the crowd of students seemed to pull his attention.

"You don't agree, Mr. Gryffindor?" Callahan asked Godric, who had been the cause of the scoff.

 "As a matter of fact, I do disagree with it. Supposedly it represents harmony between us and the other magical races, but you have the witch and wizard standing above the other three races and you have the goblins and centaurs looking at the wizard and witch as though they're somehow better than them. Let me tell you, the goblins don't see themselves as weaker or even equal to wizards. They see themselves as superior, and honestly, they might have a point. They at least don't kill their own kind because of something as stupid as blood status, and they sure as hell don't follow along with some idiot who claims to be a dark lord. Centaurs also don't envy wizards in any way. They have their own laws, customs, and their own magic. Same with the goblins. Wizards also rely on goblins to run our economy, seeing as how they are the only ones who can make our currency, and they safeguard it as well. If anything, the goblin in the fountain should be standing on a castle above the others as it pisses gold." When Godric finished his rant, he couldn't help but notice how everyone looked dumbstruck, even the Aurors who were standing not too far off.

 Not too far away from the group of students, two goblins had been walking when the students arrived at the fountain, but they paused when Godric began his speech, and both of them were grinning and nodding their heads towards the end, thinking that what he said was completely right.

"Is that true, sir?" Hermione asked the professor, who was opening and closing his mouth without uttering a word. "He's not wrong, Hermione. Wizards treat the other races as inferiors, and the only ones who believe it are the house-elves. They actually like their position in life because it has been bred into them." Helga stated, fully agreeing with Godric's views on the races.

"That's horrible!" The bushy-haired girl replied, at which point Callahan snapped out of his stupor and ushered everyone along. Apparently he didn't have anything to say to refute Godric's words, and he thought he would probably end up making it worse if he did.

 At the end of the Atrium they arrived at a set of golden gates, next to which was a security stand. The man on duty was Eric Munch, and upon seeing the group he quickly ushered them by. Normally he would first register the wands of visitors before letting them through, but things had been worked out beforehand by the DMLE and Hogwarts School.

After going down another smaller hall beyond the gates, they arrived at a series of lifts, which provided access to all but one level of the Ministry. "Does anyone remember how many levels there are in the Ministry?" Callahan asked, hoping to get things back on track.

"There are ten levels, sir." Daphne Greengrass answered. "Do you know what is on each level?" Callahan asked the young Slytherin girl. She seemed to think on it for a moment before she began to list them off.

 Level 1: Minister for Magic and Support Staff

Level 2: Department of Magical Law Enforcement

Level 3: Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes

Level 4: Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures

Level 5: Department of International Magical Cooperation

Level 6: Department of Magical Transportation

Level 7: Department of Magical Games and Sports

Level 8: Atrium

Level 9: Department of Mysteries

Level 10: Courtrooms

 "And the tenth floor cannot be accessed through the lifts, but only from some stairs on the ninth floor." Daphne finished, much to the delight of the Professor. "Well done. Five points to Slytherin." Callahan said, impressed with her being able to remember all of that, especially because he hadn't explained most of that to them yet.

'I wonder if I should remind him that saying we get points outside of Hogwarts is useless.' Rowena thought, then decided against it. What the teacher didn't know wouldn't hurt him.

Beginning their tour, they went to the seventh floor, which excited everyone who even remotely cared about Quidditch. Their excitement was killed the moment they arrived on level seven, which looked like a scrap yard. It was of course a bit more relaxed than most students were guessing, but then again they had high expectations coming into the room, which was probably why it looked as though someone just shit it their food.

 "Well this sucks." Godric stated, not impressed in the least. He was hoping to see people flying around on brooms or throwing gobstones at one another. Instead he saw like a dozen people sitting at desks writing on papers, and one pudgy man standing at the far end of the room.

"Ah! It's good to see you, Thomas!" The pudgy man called out. "Good to see you too, Ludo. But I thought you were going to spruce the place up a bit before the new class arrived?" Callahan said, gesturing around the messy room. "All in good time. Best not rush a thing like this, you know. Any who, let's get onto the tour!" Ludo Bagman said excitedly.

 They were led to a number of rooms that had nothing exciting in them, then finally they arrived in a large open area where a woman was flying around on a broom that was faster than even the Nimbus 2001 series.

"What kind of broom is that?!" Dean Thomas asked excitedly as he and most of the boys ran over to the railing that stopped them from going any further.

"Haha! I knew you'd all be excited to see this! That there is the Firebolt! The fastest broom in the world! It's still in the testing phase, but we hope to see them on the market as early as next Christmas. Still a few kinks to work out, however." Ludo finished just as the woman riding the new broom was suddenly sent flying off her broom that had stopped so suddenly that she had been unable to hold on.

 When they got back to where the lift was, they were all given the chance to ask some questions. Unsurprisingly, most of the questions were about the new broom.

"Are you ever going to come up with a game that involves using your wand? Maybe bring more dueling competitions back to Britain?" Salazar finally asked once it looked as though they were about to leave.

In response to his question, Ludo Bagman began to laugh wholeheartedly for a solid minute before he leaned in conspiratorially, almost as though he was going to whisper a secret that no one else should know, though didn't bother to whisper it.

"Actually, I am trying to bring back an event that involves exactly that! I've been petitioning the ICW, the Minister, and the other Magical Schools of Europe. We'll find out in a year or two if anything pays off." Bagman refused to explain any more than that as he ushered the students back onto the lift so they could pester some other people, and he could get back to making a few bets on this year's Quidditch World Cup.

 On the lift, Harry leaned over to Salazar and asked, "You want dueling competitions to be brought to Britain?"

"Of course. Godric and I always dueled back in the day, which is probably why we're so well versed in magic. To top it off, every person should know how to defend themselves in case they ever get attacked. Dueling also helps teach restraint because you're not trying to kill the other person, just disable them. In America, Africa, China, France, and India they still hold dueling competitions because they know that there is merit for it. If you ask me, I think that's why Voldemort never dared attack those countries, because he knew he would get his ass kicked." Salazar explained, making some valid points.

Everyone who heard him was also thinking the same thing, even Professor Callahan and the Aurors who were standing in the lift. Ingstrom was already making a note to bring this up to Amelia Bones as soon as they got to Level 2.

 The class went through level 6 and level 5 with not much of anything interesting happening, though they did learn quite a bit of things that they hadn't known before. One of the things they did get to see was a flying carpet on Level 6. They all even got to have a ride on it, though they weren't allowed to go very fast, and they had to be accompanied by an adult.

"Why exactly did these things get banned?" Rowena asked Professor Callahan. If she had to choose to ride a broom or a flying carpet, she'd pick the carpet hands down.

"There was talk about the enchantments wearing off after a time which made them dangerous, but I think it might have just been a cover-up." Callahan explained, much to Rowena's surprise. After all, she hadn't been able to find anything about why flying carpets were banned yet, so to hear someone might know why was a shock.

"What do you mean? Who was trying to cover what up?" Seamus Finnigan asked.

 "Well, I have no proof of this, but it has been brought up quite a bit over the years. It is rumored that the purebloods who were selling the brooms pushed for the ban on flying carpets so everyone else would have to buy the brooms, which gave them more money and more power. They control the Daily Prophet, and after telling the public how dangerous the flying carpets were, everyone switched to brooms because they believed it. However, if you try to find any of the cases where the enchantments wore out, you can't find any. There is not even a record of the witches or wizards who supposedly died in the accidents ever being alive in the first place. I should know, I checked all the records myself." Callahan said, reminding them all that he did work in the hall of records. There was some murmuring amongst the children, but that died down when they got to the next floor.

 Level 4 was probably the most popular floor in the Ministry, mostly because the students got to go see all of the magical creatures that existed in Britain. There was even a phoenix, which dazzled the students with its beautiful music.

By the time they finished on level 4, it was a little past lunch, though none of the students minded all that much. They skipped over level three for the moment, going straight to level 2 where they would be eating their lunch with the Aurors.

They barely had a chance to sit down before the food appeared on the tables in front of them, and at once everyone began to dig in. "Hey, Neville. I thought your gran was going to be here to see you?" Godric asked, to which Neville only beamed at him. "Something must have come up! Can you believe my luck?" Neville said, smiling like an idiot as he dug into his food.

Hannah was recounting their time on level 4 when Susan stood abruptly from her chair and ran over to her aunt who had finally arrived. When she finally stopped hugging her aunt, the two of them made their way over to the table where Godric and the others were sitting, at which point Susan introduced everyone to her aunt.

Amelia did her best to not embarrass Susan, though some of the stories she told did just that, but all in all everyone enjoyed lunch. When it ended, they were given the tour of the facilities and given descriptions of everything Aurors faced out in the field. Amelia also had two of her men come in and have a mock battle, which was far more chaotic than a typical duel would be, as there were no rules, other than of course no killing or maiming.

 Everyone's favorite part of the tour had to be the training field, and not the new trials that had been installed, but the legitimate training field where the Aurors tested their abilities against one another. Everyone got to try the stealth training, or at least part of it.

There was a crowd of people, and whoever was being tested had to get to the target without being spotted by the enemies. The only one to actually pass was Godric, and no one, not even Amelia or the other instructors knew how he did it, and he didn't feel inclined to tell them.

 Leaving level 2, they went to level 3, which they had previously skipped. This level was a bit eye-opening, because they got to see just what kind of accidents and catastrophes these people dealt with on a day to day basis.

The tour was kept brief simply for the fact that some of the things were a little too dark for children to see, and Callahan didn't want to have to explain to the parents why the children were all traumatized.

"Maybe the Ministry isn't as useless as we thought." Godric whispered to Salazar, who only stared at him. With how often Salazar had to look over reports on the Minister and ICW members, he knew full well how necessary the Ministry was, even if he didn't like any of them.

"I don't know how you can be so blessed by magic but still be as stupid as you are." Salazar told him, meaning every word of it.

 When they finally arrived on level 1, which was the last floor they would get to see, they were all welcomed by the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge himself. There was also a tiny woman dressed in pink who looked rather hideous, and her smile looked disturbing.

"Come now, I won't bite!" Cornelius said jovially as he gestured them all to step forward. Most everyone was intimidated to meet the Minister for Magic, though Salazar was definitely not one of them. He knew better than anyone here just how incompetent Cornelius was, and meeting the man now, he looked as unimposing as he always thought him to be.

 *Hemp!*

*Hemp!*

 The weird toad-like sound came from the woman dressed in pink, and all at once, everyone wondered if she was dying. "Ah, my apologies. This ladies and gentlemen, is my Senior Undersecretary, Delores Umbridge. She is essential to the running of the day to day of our world." Fudge said, but everyone looked at him as though he was a complete idiot.

"Is anyone else getting the feeling that she is part troll?" Godric asked. Though he had spoken in a whisper, a number of children around him had heard what he said and many of them couldn't stop themselves from bursting into laughter.

"Quiet!" Fudge demanded, trying to get the students to settle down. "What's so funny?" Umbridge asked Justin Finch-Fletchley, a boy from Hufflepuff who seemed to choke on his tongue when he was singled out.

Justin looked around for an answer, but he couldn't think of one. Thankfully he didn't have to because Godric stepped forward and spoke, "It was my fault. I said something funny, and I guess Justin and a few others overheard me."

 "We could all use a laugh, so why don't you repeat what you said so we can all hear." Fudge said, though based on his tone of voice, it sounded as though he was daring Godric to repeat what he had said. If he was expecting Godric to panic or be too scared to repeat his words, he clearly had no idea who he was talking to.

"What I said was, I think your undersecretary looks as though she is part troll. I mean, for a second there we all thought she was dying. Seriously, what the hell was that noise you made? Are you sick?" Godric was so serious, one would think he was actually concerned for the woman, but he couldn't give two shits about her or Fudge.

"H-How dare you speak of me this way!" Umbridge cried out as she withdrew her wand. "Now, now Delores, let us calm down." Fudge said, hoping to diffuse the situation. Godric, seeing the manic look in the woman's eyes, withdrew his own wand the moment he saw he reach for hers, only his was out a split second sooner.

"It was originally a joke, but given your temperament, I'm beginning to wonder if I was right." He said, adding a little fuel to the fire.

 Callahan, seeing the situation turning a bit darker than he expected, stepped between Umbridge and the rest of the students, though Godric stepped to the side, making sure he would be able to attack or defend himself if need be.

"Be quiet! 25 points will be taken from Gryffindor." Callahan said as he pushed Godric further behind him, making sure that Umbridge would have to go through him first before she could get to Godric or any of the other students.

Salazar, who had only been slightly interested in what was happening up to this point perked up. 'I hope he knows giving or taking points outside of school is useless. Whatever, I'll remind him when we get back to Hogwarts. This way Slytherin will get points from before and Gryffindor will lose a bunch of points. Win-win.' He thought, quite excited for when they got back to school.

For his part, Fudge grabbed hold of Delores' wand and pulled it from her fingers before she had the chance to utter a spell. Leaning in close he whispered, "These are students who are guests at the Ministry. If you attack one, not even I will be able to stop you from being sent to Azkaban."

An idiot he may be, but Fudge was a well-practiced idiot. He knew when to make stupid decisions and when not to. Or at least he believed he did.

 Umbridge very reluctantly went to her office, though she sent a few murderous looks at Godric along the way. "I am terribly sorry about that, Minister Fudge. Godric will be punished as soon as we return to Hogwarts." Callahan said, earning a frown from Godric.

'Oh, bullshit! I didn't even do anything!' Godric cursed inwardly, thinking he was entirely in the right. "

It is alright. Delores should know better than to listen to the ramblings of a child. Her behavior was completely out of line, and I too shall set her straight later when she has had time to think about her actions." Fudge said, trying to make light of the situation by laughing at the end, then gestured for everyone to follow him to where his office was.

 A short while later after they left Fudge's office, Godric saw the door leading into Umbridge's office and an idea came to his mind. Deciding right then and there that if he was going to be punished for something, he may as well deserve it.

 Without thinking much further on the matter, Godric made sure no one was watching him, then cast the disillusionment charm on himself as well as a notice-me-not charm. Seeing that no one had taken notice of him, he made his way towards Umbridge's office, where he very slowly opened the door before letting himself inside.

Off to the far end of the room, the toad-like woman had her back to the door as she poured herself a cup of tea. Creeping slowly over behind her, Godric raised his wand before he stunned the woman with Stupify, then levitated her gently to the floor so no one heard her fall with Levioso.

Seeing her in the perfect position and knowing he didn't have a lot of time, Godric put his wand away before he grabbed Delores' wand from her coat pocket, then pointed it at her before he got to work.

 About three minutes after disappearing from the group, Godric reappeared behind Salazar who was standing near the back. Seeing as how Salazar didn't so much as blink in surprise at his sudden appearance, Godric figured Salazar already suspected what he had been up to.

"Did you kill her?" Salazar whispered to him. "You think you got me all figured out. Well, for your information, I didn't kill her. I just gave her a new perspective." Godric said with a smile, causing Salazar to let out a sigh.

"Fine. Don't tell me. But whatever you did better not affect me in any way." Salazar warned, certain that whatever Godric did would be hectic.

 They had just finished with their tour of Level 1 and were just boarding the lift when the sounds of screaming could be heard. "TROLL!" A woman screamed just as the door to the lift closed, leaving everyone shocked at what they had just heard.

The only person who wasn't shocked had a shit-eating grin on his face, but he was turned so no one could see his facial expression. When they arrived at level 2, Aurors were already swarming the lifts to go down to combat the troll, but because of them then the lifts were out of commission, for the students, so they had to wait in the lunch area.

"You turned her into a troll?" Salazar asked once they had a moment to themselves. "Sort of. I transfigured her to look and sound like a troll to everyone who saw her, but I made so she would still think she was normal. Now everyone can see her for who she really is." Godric chuckled darkly. Hell, even Salazar was slightly smiling at the thought of the Aurors attacking the uppity cunt.

 It was almost twenty minutes later before Amelia and a group of Aurors came walking into the room, and after looking at the students for a minute their gazes settled on the table where Godric was sitting. After marching over to them, Callahan and the rest of the students gathered around to hear what was going on.

"Care to tell us what happened?" Amelia asked, looking pointedly at Godric.

Deciding to play ignorant, Godric replied, "I don't know what you're talking about. Did you kill the troll?" He sounded a little too hopeful when he asked if they had killed the 'troll', which for some reason got a smirk from Amelia.

"I'm afraid not. As it turns out, the troll was actually Senior Undersecretary Delores Umbridge. Someone apparently transfigured her into a troll and made it so she couldn't speak. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?" The head of the DMLE asked, though for some reason it seemed as though she already knew it was him when by all accounts she should have suspected someone else, especially considering the fact that he was only a second-year student and there was absolutely no proof that he had done anything.

 Making the most shocked expression he could muster, Godric asked, "The troll was the toad in disguise?! How on earth did that happen?! More importantly, how did you figure it out?!" He sounded genuinely curious about the last part, but the first two questions he asked seemed fake to everyone watching.

"We figured out it was her because instead of speaking or growling, the troll kept going *HEMP!* *HEMP!*. As for how it happened, someone extremely gifted in transfiguration changed her. According to my niece, Susan, you Mr. Gryffindor fit that description perfectly. You also had a bit of an altercation with the Undersecretary from what I've been told, where you mentioned how similar she was to a troll." Amelia explained with a slight smile on her face, which told Godric that she knew it was him, though she had no evidence other than hearsay.

 "That's some extreme transfiguration, even for someone as talented as myself. I am just a second-year. Anyway, other than the very public altercation down on the first floor, I've been with my class the whole time. Right, Salazar?" Godric said as he turned to Salazar who was sitting next to him.

"If you have proof it was him then punish him. If you don't, then can we please go back to school?" Salazar said, neither confirming or denying what Godric said. "Let me see your wand." Amelia said as she held out her hand towards him.

Shrugging his shoulders in a very uncaring manor, Godric passed his wand over to the woman. His wand was checked, and after finding that the last spells he used were Levioso, Stupify, Disillusionment, and a notice-me-not charm, they promptly returned the wand to him.

"You all better head back to the Atrium and Floo back to school." Amelia said, then turned to Susan before giving her a hug and telling her that they would speak soon.

Before the stern-looking witch left, she stepped over to Godric before she leaned over to whisper in his ear, "I don't have proof it was you, but we both know it was. Susan being your friend is the only reason I'm not pressing this matter further, but you are on a very thin line. You would do well to tread carefully."

 Standing up from his chair, Godric patted Amelia's shoulder in a familiar manner before he also leaned towards her ear, though being slightly shorter than the woman he didn't quite make it there before he whispered, "I'll be sure to thank Susan later. You have my word on that. And for the record, I'll tread however carefully I want to."

With that, Godric turned and walked away towards the lift, not minding the fact that the head of the DMLE was glaring at his back and already planning ways to make his life miserable.

 Getting up from his chair as well, Salazar followed along after Godric, internally complimenting Godric's ability to make friends.