As time continued to pass, the Death Eater forces began to show signs of imminent collapse.
Most of these so-called dark wizards were basically mercenaries at heart—opportunists who had come to Britain seeking profit and power under the Dark Lord's banner. They might be individually skilled in combat, but they possessed absolutely no genuine resolve to die for the Dark Lord's cause.
They fought for gold, for status, for fear of punishment.
And battle, as any experienced warrior knew, was the fastest and most brutal forge for growth and transformation.
Though the Department of Magical Law Enforcement's newly expanded Auror Teams still lacked significant field experience, most had been on the job for mere months—their conviction was pure. Their purpose was righteous and clear in their minds.
They were fighting to protect their world, their families, their way of life.
Watching mate after mate fall screaming to the dark wizards' vicious attacks, watching friends die in the mud, the courage born of grief and hatred filled these young Aurors with an unshakeable determination never to retreat, never to surrender, never to let those deaths be meaningless.
Under the 'rough' but effective battlefield command of " Moody and the experienced veteran Aurors, the Ministry forces began steadily encircling the dark wizard forces.
From high above, had anyone had the vantage point to observe, one could have seen the army the Death Eaters had gathered gradually being divided and surrounded by the coordinated Auror Teams.
Most of the dark wizards simply hadn't noticed their deteriorating tactical position yet.
Meanwhile, the intense personal duel between Sirius and Malfoy continued to rage on.
WHOOSH!
A soaking bookshelf lying half-buried in the thick mud transformed under Sirius's transfiguration into thumb-thick vines that shot through the air toward Malfoy's legs, seeking to entangle and immobilize him.
Malfoy reacted with impressive speed, lashing violently at the air with his wand. The aggressive vines burst into flames as they neared him, turning instantly to ash and smoke before they could make contact.
But before Malfoy could catch his breath or press any advantage, Sirius's next attack was already upon him.
In the gloomy curtain of falling rain, silver crescent-shaped flashes of cutting curses lit up one after another in rapid series, slicing through the air with a chilling whistle that raised goosebumps.
Malfoy's wand moved frantically in defensive patterns, barely managing to deflect the deadly silver lights at the last possible moment.
In the precious gaps between his desperate deflections, he managed to send his own black curse-fire exploding near where Sirius stood, forcing the other man to keep moving!
"Has your obsession with counting gold in your vault made you rusty, Malfoy? You're slower than I remember!"
Ducking agilely behind an upturned stone slab to avoid the spraying debris and shrapnel from an explosion, Sirius immediately popped back up and fired off several more rapid spells in quick series.
Watching Lucius scramble awkwardly across the uneven rubble, Sirius couldn't help but shout gleefully, though his hands never stopped moving, casting faster and faster.
BOOM!
A series of explosions from Sirius's curse-fire landed in a precise pattern behind Malfoy's position. The violent collapse triggered an unexpected and catastrophic chain reaction throughout the unstable terrain.
The rain-soaked building ruins piled precariously on the ground began churning and flowing like a massive, hungry whirlpool of mud and stone!
Both Malfoy and Sirius suddenly found themselves standing dangerously at the vortex's crumbling edge, the ground was literally disappearing beneath their feet.
Thick mud mixed with broken rubble rapidly swallowed Malfoy up to his calves, then his knees, the suction was tremendous.
With quick, desperate reflexes, he reached out and grabbed a steel reinforcement beam jutting up at an angle from the debris. He pulled with all his strength, barely managing to seize his descent and steady himself against the pull.
The even quicker Sirius, blessed with better positioning and faster reflexes, took three rapid steps, scrambling upon a nearby giant's massive corpse. He threw himself flat on the relatively stable surface and narrowly avoided being caught by the churning earth.
But many others fighting nearby weren't nearly so fortunate.
Completely unprepared for the sudden catastrophe, multiple wizards were swept up by the violent mudslide without warning. They were pulled toward the vortex's hungry center, screaming in terror as tons of mud and stone crushed down upon them.
When the thunder-like rumbling finally ceased its terrible noise and the earth stopped its sickening flow, settling into an uneasy stillness, only then did Sirius lying flat on his stomach on the giant's corpse, untouched by the mudslide dare to cautiously raise his head and assess the damage.
"Hiss!"
At first proper glance, Sirius sucked in a sharp, shocked breath between his teeth!
Beside the giant's enormous corpse, where solid ground had been just moments before, a bottomless pit had suddenly appeared. From somewhere within its dark depths came the faint sound of rushing water echoing up. The collapse had apparently broken through to expose the underground sewers that ran beneath Diagon Alley.
"Ugh!"
A suppressed cry of pain immediately drew Sirius's attention sharply back to the present danger. He looked quickly toward the opposite side of the pit's ragged edge.
Lucius Malfoy still hung desperately from that steel beam with both hands. His upper body was visible and covered in fresh blood from multiple cuts. But his waist and everything below were completely buried, swallowed by the thick mud and rising water.
He tried repeatedly to free himself, straining and thrashing, but no matter how aggressively he struggled, the tremendous suction in the dense mud and shifting stone held his lower body absolutely fast. He was trapped.
RUMBLE!
Thunder boomed in the roiling skies. Dazzling lightning flashed so bright it was temporarily blinding, illuminating the devastated battlefield in harsh white light.
The heavy rainstorm seemed absolutely determined to flood the entire earth before it would finally stop.
Sirius trudged carefully through the mud, one foot sinking deep with a sucking sound, the other finding slightly shallower grip, until he finally stood directly before the trapped Malfoy. He looked down at his enemy coldly.
The violent mudslide had stripped away Malfoy's concealing black cloak, leaving him exposed. It had even cracked his mask with a visible fissure running through the left eye socket.
As if finally resigned to his fate, Malfoy stopped his struggling at last. He tilted his head back with effort, looking up at Sirius through the driving rain with an oddly calm expression.
The heavy, relentless rain made it nearly impossible for either man to see the other's eyes clearly through the water streaming down their faces.
But in each other's eyes, both men were already looking at someone dead.
"Your defeat is certain, Malfoy."
Sirius raised his head slightly, squinting carefully at their surroundings, taking the situation. His shoulders sagged slightly with exhaustion.
"The Dark Lord is watching this place right now, Black. He sees everything."
Malfoy spoke showing no trace of panic in his voice despite his desperate situation. It wasn't at all the reaction Sirius had imagined or expected.
"So what if he is?"
A mocking smile tugged at the corner of Sirius's mouth. "Does he dare to show himself in person? Or is he still accustomed to skulking in shadows, sending others to fight and die while he hides?"
Malfoy fell into silence.
"Things are different now than they were—"
Sirius let the cold rain continue to wash over him, plastering his hair to his skull. He gasped for air, his gray eyes were filled with deep sorrow for all that had been lost.
"You and your kind cannot drag Britain's magical world back into the abyss of terror.
We cannot avoid sacrifice—I understand that now. Good people will die. Have died today. But there won't be so many tragedies anymore. And after Minister Bones completes her reorganization, the Ministry will wield even greater power and effectiveness than it ever has.
And we don't just have Albus Dumbledore standing against the darkness—we have Bryan Amos Watson as well now."
Sirius looked deeply, meaningfully at Lucius Malfoy.
"So, tell me honestly, Malfoy—what more can Voldemort possibly accomplish?"
BOOM!
Before Sirius's challenging words had even completely faded from the rain-soaked air, a savage wind suddenly rose from nowhere with terrifying speed and force.
In the low-hanging firmament directly above the battlefield, the dark thunderclouds that had been merely ominous before began churning violently, roiling and twisting in completely unnatural patterns.
And then, beneath countless rough flashes of alarming lightning that split the sky, a terrifying face suddenly emerged from within the very clouds themselves!
The heavens turned completely dark. The howling wind carried with it furious roars of rage, agonized wails of the damned, the screaming of lost souls.
That enormous face, large enough to blanket all of Diagon Alley from end to end like some vast celestial blanket, began descending steadily toward the earth below. It moved like a demon god descending upon the mortal world, wielding the very might of heavens itself as its weapon.
All-pervasive, overwhelming fear and suffocation ravaged the minds of everyone still resisting on the ground. The psychological pressure was immense, crushing. Some fighters even collapsed to the muddy ground, weeping!
Watching that mountainous face press steadily downward, seeming ready to grind all mortal things beneath it to dust and nothingness, even Sirius's defiant expression shifted subtly. The flames of rebellion burning in his gray eyes were suppressed and weakened.
"Do you truly believe that, Black!"
The giant face blocking out all light and hope moved its massive lips, and the thunder-like sound of its voice physically shook the earth beneath their feet.
"That the Dark Lord can accomplish nothing more?"
Sirius's face changed vividly. He had just opened his mouth to speak defiantly, when a violent gust of wind suddenly descended from the canopy above and sent him flying violently back through the air!
His body crashed into a section of rubble with tremendous force.
"Ugh!"
Sharp, agonizing pain forced a low growl from Sirius's throat, and his consciousness flickered for an instant.
He fought it desperately. The sudden burst of different pains prevented his awareness from sinking into the comfortable oblivion of unconsciousness.
After overcoming the powerful impulse to simply let go and sink into darkness, he forced his eyes to focus and looked carefully down at his own body.
What he saw made him give a bitter, resigned smile.
Both his shoulder blades had been pierced through from behind by sharp stone spikes that had grown suddenly from the rock he'd been slammed into. Both legs were also impaled by several additional spikes that had erupted from below.
Bright red blood poured in steady streams from all the wounds, running down toward the stagnant muddy water pooled on the ground beneath him.
Perhaps purely to torture and humiliate him rather than simply kill him, Voldemort hadn't allowed the stone spikes to pierce any of Sirius's vital organs.
But death was clearly not far away. He was losing too much blood too fast.
"Tell me again, Black!"
Thunder crashed, and that giant face formed of dark clouds and brilliant lightning roared with terrible, earth-shaking volume:
"Do you truly believe the Dark Lord can accomplish nothing more! Say it to my face!"
Unbearable pain tormented Sirius constantly, radiating from every impalement point, leaving him completely unable to form clear words even if he'd wanted to speak. His throat felt paralyzed.
But he could still manage a smile.
Trembling with the effort, using the last of his strength, Sirius slowly raised his right forearm toward the vast giant face filling the sky above him.
And flipped it the middle finger.
The deafening roar of pure rage that erupted from the giant face made the very earth tremble violently beneath everyone's feet.
Every person still conscious on the battlefield watched in horror as a sickly green beam of killing light shot forth from the god-like giant face's enormous eyes. It streaked down through the rain toward Sirius Black below who appeared small as a speck of dust by comparison.
The killing curse descended like divine judgment.
King's Cross Station, Platform Nine and Three-Quarters
Aboard the stationary train still loaded with gold, in the command compartment—
THUD—
The very instant that giant face emerged in the sky over Diagon Alley, visible on the monitoring screen, Bryan slowly rose from his bar stool.
He gently set his wine glass down on the counter with a soft clink.
He drew his wand from inside his robes and held it loosely. Then, with meticulous care, he rolled up both sleeves of his shirt, exposing his forearms.
Then, facing the spotlessly clean glass window that reflected his image, he carefully straightened his collar.
He took a deep breath in.
Exhale.
After slowly releasing his held breath, the young face reflected in the glass broke into a small smile. His purple eyes gleamed.
Bryan picked up his wand from where he'd set it on the bar, held it properly, and flicked his wrist.
In the next second, he vanished from the train without a sound.
Diagon Alley
CLANG!!!
A collision like a great bronze temple bell being struck with tremendous force unleashed a devastating shockwave that knocked everyone within a hundred-foot radius to the muddy ground.
An enormous platinum-colored metal shield, as massive and solid as a city's main gate, slowly materialized in the air. It faded gradually after successfully blocking the lethal green light, having dispersed the killing curse's energy.
Bryan stood calmly in the rain between Sirius and the descending curse, looking up at the giant face that had fallen momentarily silent.
"It's been quite a while, Riddle,"
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