Prologue:

Sara Witzmermmer did not particularly care for her job. It was one of answering phones and being polite to people who were not polite back. She did her work, but never really took much initiative to go beyond the basics. And, with her level of education, it was unlikely that she would move up to a higher position anyways.

So, she answered calls for her superiors by the miniature gas fireplace on her desk, transferred complaining parents to the correct line and answered questions from the almost unheard of guest in the reception area. She did enjoy the paychecks every two weeks and the substantial benefits associated with working at the Ministry of Magic.

Her coworkers were almost all enthralled by their bureaucratic tasks. They spent the day huddled in the their offices searching through stacks of paperwork and writing memos that would probably never be read. During the course of her work day, it was common for Sara to never see a soul other than the times they arrived at and left the office each day. Luckily, the windows of the reception area were charmed to view a bustling London street that actually existed floors above the office's location deep under the muggle city. Without those windows, Sara would probably have transferred to the Department of Magical Security's sub office in the main lobby of the Ministry. The ladies up there were not paid as much, but at least they had a view of all the goings-on in the Ministry.

It was not until her third year working as the secretary for the Department of Magical Education that a new employee was hired. There were two of them who were given the open office to share at the end of the gray hallway. Both followed in the footsteps of their predecessors – being seen only in the mornings and right at five o'clock when the office workers left for the evening. Sara could say little about their character as with the rest. She could, however, observe that they had a strange affinity for bowler hats and muggle trench coats with just a hint of animal print peeking out between the lapels of their jackets. She had wondered if they were muggle liaisons.

And it was not until six months after their hire, did she finally see Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry, for the first time since she dropped out of school in her sixth year. He greeted her with a kind smile.

"Sara. What a pleasure to see you."

She almost felt herself squirming under his kind gaze; feeling like she was back in the Great Hall surrounded by her classmates. "Good, thank you Headmaster."

He smiled again. "I fear I am not here for pleasantries. I have a meeting to attend in the conference room. Would you mind escorting me? It has been a long time and I have quite forgotten its location."

Sara jumped to her feet behind the tall reception desk and ushered him quickly down the hallway to the aforementioned glass room. "Looks like they are already ready for us," he commented lightly.

Her face scrunched for a moment in though at his comment – as she was certainly not attending the meeting – until the Headmaster opened the door to the room. "After you," he said, his eyes focused at a point behind her shoulder.

She jumped and the hairs rose on the back of her neck and arms as a tiny man walked past and into the room.

"Thank you, Sara," Dumbledore commented before entering himself.

For a moment, she did not move and tried to calm her rapidly beating heart. Her fireplace chimed a warning before a disgruntled head poked its way through the coals. And the meeting was momentarily forgot as she was forced to find some old records for a previous employee from the storage room. She did not get a chance to see the Headmaster as he left.