Chapter 13
31 May 2024
-oOo-
A/N: This chapter earns more of the M rating for violence.
-oOo-
September 15, 1996
Hogwarts, Scotland
He rubbed his temples. This headache with Rogers was the last thing he needed.
In the last few days, he had been able to move further along the path of destroying Voldemort than he had in the last twenty years. Bill was proving to be one of the most skilled Curse Breakers he had worked with, which was a credit to his age.
He had been able to find a cursed necklace that Mundungus had filched from Sirius's house. He recognized it as an heirloom of Salazar Slytherin. Having to destroy the priceless heirloom had been painful, but a needed evil to fight evil.
What worried him was that they had found evidence that something had been at the old Gaunt hovel but had been moved.
It made him uncomfortable to know that either Voldemort was moving his horcruxes or someone else was hunting them. The confusing thing was that all the wards were still up.
Either way, the need to move fast was now a paramount concern and was why William Weasley was in his office.
"You are sure?" he questioned.
"There is something dangerous there. I would like us to go in a three-person team," William replied.
He steepled his hands as he pondered the situation. "I do not think we have any time to spare. I fear that Voldemort is going to move sooner than expected. We need to find and destroy all the horcruxes. Are you ready to leave now?"
William looked alarmed for a second. "Headmaster, I understand we need to move, but teams of more experienced Cursebreakers than me have died by rushing into unknown situations."
"I understand, but we really don't have any time," he pressed the young man.
William pursed his lips. "I would like a few more days. The wards and magic are far more complex than the old Gaunt place."
For once in his life, he felt time was not on their side. "I feel we must move tonight. Will you come with me?"
William shut his eyes for a few before shaking his head. "This is mental. Can you give me ten minutes to collect a few things?"
"I will meet you at the cave," Albus told him. William left the office in a flash of green flames.
Looking towards the still fledgling phoenix, he gave his familiar a sad smile. He would not be able to rely on his old friend should something go wrong. "Be safe, my friend," he told the phoenix before stepping to the fireplace. Merlin, he wished he controlled all the wards still and he could apparate out of his office. Though, he wasn't sure how much longer it would be his office. The way Minerva and the governors were grumbling about him, he was starting to understand that he may have mismanaged many things about the school over the last few years.
He flooed to the Leaky Cauldron before apparating. When he reappeared, it was a relatively dark night. A stiff breeze was blowing inland, carrying the smell of the ocean over the scrub grass covered field on the edge of the cliffs. Below him he could hear the waves beating against the rocks.
He only had to wait a few minutes before another soft pop was heard over the waves and wind. Turning, he saw William in a long dragon hide coat, dragon hide boots and carrying a rod in one hand and his wand in the other. The young man's wand came up to point at him before being satisfied that Albus was who he was.
"Are we ready?" he asked the younger man as though they were out on a leisurely stroll.
"Give me a few," William instructed him. He took the rod and jammed its metal tip into the soil. Albus brow rose as the young man started to chant something in a language he didn't recognize. The feel of the magic soon surrounded them. He was impressed at the professionalism and skill William portrayed in disabling or redirecting several detection and proximity alert spells that he had noticed his first time here.
Albus' let a small frown come to his face. It was a great tragedy that he was now without a job. Perhaps he still had some influence to find employment? Perhaps he could recommend him for a second runes professor, and to take on ancient magics and maybe a warding class?
When done, Bill left the rod in the soil. "This needs to stay until we are done. It will make sure we are not noticed."
Albus nodded.
It didn't take them long before they found the door. He shook his head at the crudeness of his old students wards. He went to cut his hand to pay the toll when William took his wrist. "What are you doing?" the young man hissed.
"Paying the toll. Surely you can tell that a payment of blood is needed?"
"Of course I can tell. I can also tell there is a second layer of passive wards below the first," he whisper yelled.
Albus looked back at the rock wall, then took out his wand. He cast it a few times and only on the fourth detection spell did he find what William was talking about. He didn't recognize the wards. "What do they do?"
"They are designed to slowly sap the core of the one the blood belongs too. I don't know how long, but I would say within a week or so, you would be so weak your magic would fail," William told him.
He was starting to wonder if he was getting too old. How could he have missed that?
A rustling noise from behind them had both turning, wands up and spells ready to fly. He stopped to see a grey cloaked figure. The man was carrying a bronze orb that was glowing many assorted colours as different runes were lit like a Christmas tree and a wand in the other hand.
"I see I'm not the only one that came for a party tonight," the figure quipped.
"What is an Unspeakable doing here?" William asked.
"I could ask the same, but I have a feeling we already know why we are all here. I must say impressive work, Master Cursebreaker. I have not had to do any work to get here so far," the figure stated.
Albus pursed his lips. "Who are you? No one should know about this."
"I would say the same, Albus. You will excuse me if I don't lower my hood right now, as these cloaks do provide a rather superior protection, but you know who I am," the figure said.
"Algernon, what are you doing here?"
"I would say hunting down parts of a certain Dark Lord. If you don't mind, I would like to get on with this. I have other things to do and more of these abominations to hunt," Algernon replied.
William blinked. "How many?"
The young man was quick on the uptake. Algernon answered, "This is my second. They are not easy to hunt down and I am years behind in a hunt that could have been done already." He had the distinct feeling that Algernon was glaring at him. "I was going to pay a visit to Hogwarts soon. I think there is one there. Tell me, Mister Weasley, do you still work for Gringotts?"
William scowled. "I was let go."
"Pity. I will talk with them anyways. Now, if you would, I would enjoy to see a master in his element," Algernon said.
William huffed, then turned. It took the man ten minutes to take down the inner layer of wards. "Now pay the price."
"You will not disable the blood ward?" he asked in curiosity.
"It will take another ten to twenty minutes. By your friend's insistence, I think we should get this over with as soon as possible," William replied.
"I would not like to tarry," Algernon replied.
"Very well," Albus said. He paid the toll, and they soon were in the crystal cave. The malevolence of the place was great. William looked in the water and cursed.
"Inferi! Bloody hell, there must be close to a thousand," the young man said.
Algernon ignored them and started to move along the edge of the lake. Albus followed and soon they had found the boat. "Master Cursebreaker, is it safe for us to travel one at a time?" Algernon asked. Albus could tell that he was testing William. Perhaps he wouldn't need to worry about finding the young man a job?
William had already been casting. "I assume you want to know because you can tell we can't pass over any other way without defeating the inferi?"
"I have assumed as such. I have faith we can do it, but the numbers are a little daunting," Algernon replied.
William snorted. "Daunting… foolish old men that just want to use their blood… I swear, if I get out of this, I'm finding a real team," he muttered under his breath.
Albus gave a slight smile.
It took them a little bit to determine how to get them across on the boat and recall it so they all could pass. While on the island waiting for Algernon and William to join him, he walked up to the crystal basin that was the centrepiece of the island. He used the elder wand to determine how to access the contents within. By the time he was joined by his two companions, he was convinced the only way to get the contents of the basin was to drink the pearly potion, otherwise the destructive wards of the cave and the inferi would attack them. Given the power he could feel from the wards, he doubted even the elder wand would get them out in one piece, if they got out at all, and the time it would take to disable the wards would mean they might be here for days. Both were options they didn't have.
Algernon walked up to him. "What are your thoughts?"
"Given the time we have, one of us will have to drink the potion," Albus replied.
William gave him a look like he had a hole in his head. "You can't be serious?"
"I have already analysed the wards and find them much more potent than the door or the boat. Given the time restraint we all fear, that is the easiest way," Albus answered.
"Bloody fecking mental old codgers," William muttered.
Albus had the distinct feeling that he was amused by Williams muttering as he performed his own analysis on the basin and the wards around them. It took the young man almost fifteen minutes to follow a strange blue mist that he had cast.
"What is he doing," he asked Algernon. Albus thought he was versed in magic, but William had shown him a few things tonight that he had never seen before.
"His job," Algernon simply said.
It was another five minutes before William stopped by a large crystal at the water's edge. Careful not to touch the water, he prodded a few spots until one of the faces opened. Albus hadn't expected that. William reached his hand in after using a few more detection spells. When the basin started to drain, he felt surprised.
William got up and walked over. "It seemed idiotic that the wanker wouldn't have a way to access the horcrux."
"Indeed," he said, not wanting William to know he had never thought of that probability.
Algernon let a small laugh escape his darkened cowl.
When the potion finally drained, Albus looked down at a remarkably familiar necklace.
William reached in. "Oh, bloody hell! This is a replica of that one we destroyed the other night."
"How many?" Algernon asked.
"Two," William answered before Albus could stop him.
"So that makes three. I calculate there are four more pieces. If you would, Mister Weasley, please call into the Department of Mysteries tomorrow morning. I could you use you to complete this job. I will call of you in Hogwarts soon to find the one I suspect is in the school," Algernon told them before turning towards the boat.
"How many know of this secret?" Albus asked, concerned that Voldemort would find out.
"Do not worry, Albus. The secret is known by those that need to. Please bring the other pieces with you in the morning," Algernon told William.
They were silent as they watched the grey cloaked man ride the boat across the inky black surface.
"Was I just recruited?" William asked.
"Perhaps," was all Albus would say.
-oOo-
September 16, 1996
Austin, Texas, USA
Harry hated portkeys. No matter how many times he used them, he always stumbled and fell when he came out. Looking up at a slightly amused Daphne, he glared at her.
"That was the most ungraceful exit I've ever seen," a man said from behind them.
Captain Emeraldfield had kept her word and gotten them to the gnomish embassy in Mexico City. They had spent the night in a rather lavish state room as guests of the ambassador. This morning, they had been presented with a portkey and told they would meet with the gnomish and MACUSA ambassador in Texas. They had thanked the gnomes and offered to reimburse them but had been told they should never have been attacked like they had and it being good customers of their bank, this was being handled as a diplomatic issue and they wouldn't be asked for any compensation.
Hearing the voice, he twirled, stepping before Daphne and flicking his wrist. His wand came to his hand. Three Aurors, a slightly short man with dark hair and two gnomes were arrayed around a table that held snacks and cups of coffee.
The Aurors all pulled their wands and moved to protect the man.
"Stand down," the man ordered. "Mister and Misses Potter, please, we don't mean you any harm. These fine Aurors are just my security detail. The State Department requires me to take them. Please, our fine hosts assure me that you are in no danger, and I would like to talk with you on behalf of my government."
Daphne slipped a hand into his. "You will excuse me, ambassador, but I will not risk my wife. We are not going back to Britain."
"It's Ambassador Williams. This is Ambassador Rosecliff and her Undersecretary Emeraldlily," the man congenially said.
"Welcome, Mister and Misses Potter. I assure you that you are still under the neutrality of the gnomes and will remain so until you decide to leave," a slightly taller than normal gnomish woman said. Her hair was a light brown with streaks of white.
The squeeze of Daphne's hand had him put his hand back into his holster. He moved them towards the waiting ambassadors. "Thank you, Ambassador Rosecliff. Ambassador Williams, thank you for meeting with us."
The man got up and extended his hand to greet them. "It is an honour to meet you, Mister Potter. Even on this side of the Atlantic we have heard about you and been dismayed at the media coverage about you. I hope that you have made it here in good health?"
"It has been a journey," he replied.
Daphne snorted next to him. Williams cast a curious glance to Daphne. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Misses Potter. I have heard about your ordeal in Mexico City. I take it that is not your only interesting event since the manhunt was issued for you?"
"Interesting is a word for it," Daphne said back rather interestingly.
Ambassador Rosecliff motioned for them to sit. "Please, have a seat. We have refreshments for our conversation. I would like to know what you have been doing."
"I am rather interested myself. What other interesting things have you been up too?" Williams pressed.
He shared a look with Daphne. Ambassador Oakhold in Mexico City said they should be honest if they wanted the MACUSA to take them in under a political asylum deal.
Daphne spoke first. "Please, I hope you understand, but my husband is very prone to 'interesting' events. I don't know how much you have heard, but there are reasons why we decided to leave Britain and will ask the MACUSA for asylum."
The man looked extremely interested now. "Asylum, you say? That sounds like you are running from something that is very dangerous."
Harry frowned. "Daphne and I fear if we had stayed, then I would be dead, and she would be the plaything of a man four times her age."
Williams turned more serious. "This does sound serious. Would you tell me the basics of what is going on?"
Daphne shared one more look at him. "You do believe that Voldemort is back?"
The Aurors shifted. Williams frowned. "Given the outrageousness of your media, we were unsure, but the recent articles in Europe have convinced us. What do you know of the terrorist?"
Harry reached up to pull his hair back. "The wanker gave me this scar, has tried to kill me four times and used my blood to resurrect himself. I know probably more than most, ambassador."
"We would like to know any information you have, but this might be better if you talk with the Aurors and our Defense forces," Williams said, any joviality gone. "I will schedule that as soon as I can. If I was to offer you asylum, what are you looking for and are you looking to stay?"
Daphne squeezed his hand. "We are not going back to Britain. We want to finish school. I don't want my Harry to have to fight for his life anymore."
"I just want Daphne to be safe. Anything else will be nice," he said.
"That is something we can do. Auror Devon, can you please send a message to the MLE that we will need an investigator to two? If you don't mind, Rosecliff?"
"That is fine. I can give you some rooms until it is agreed upon our guests will leave," the gnomish woman said.
"Excellent. Now, would you mind telling me what has driven you to leave and come to the MACUSA while we wait?" Williams asked.
Harry let out a long breath, hoping they would finally be safe. "I don't know where to start."
"How about with your relatives?" Daphne said a little hotly. "Or how Dumbledore left you on their step in the middle of the night in only a blanket? I still can't believe he was named your magical guardian and they gave him regency over your house."
He reached up and ran a hand through his hair. "Yeah, we could start there."
"Don't forget to mention the 'scholarship' fund he established in your name. Or the whole thing with Quirrell!" Daphne venomously spat. She was obviously upset still about what happened the day before and finding her first real way to vent it.
It would be a long day… a long few days as they talked with the ambassadors, investigators, Healers and more to tell the MACUSA everything they knew about the issues in Britain, their lives and what they wanted.
-oOo-
That afternoon…
London, England
The silvery patronus had found him while he was meeting with his sister. The last month of chasing Potter around had kept him from talking with Augusta. It had probably been a good thing, because if he had known everything Potter had told the Bones girl and that Algie and what his sister and brother-on-law had then found out, he would have been on the warpath to eliminate all the Death Eaters he could find.
As he sat, drinking tea with one of the only people he would ever trust to not poison him, the silvery wolf barged through the ceiling. "Moody! Death Eaters in the Ministry. Five minutes at Safehouse 2," the voice of his last apprentice said. The girl was shaping up to be an excellent Auror.
Shooting out of his chair, he drew his wand. "I'm sorry, Gus."
Augusta gave him a fierce look. "Don't leave a single one alive," she told him.
He gave her a grin. The Moody's had a reputation for fighting to keep someone down, and the Longbottoms weren't any different. "I'll bring back her head if I can."
The portkey dropped him off into a scene of chaos. There were injured people in the hall. Poppy and another healer were trying to see to the most egregiously wounded. Albus was standing in the centre. He was surprised to see a dozen Aurors in the room.
His clumping step had them turn to him. "What's going on?" he demanded.
"There is a pitched battle going on in the Ministry. I offered Scrimgeour to use this house as a staging area and infirmary. We are just about to apparate to the muggle entrance," Albus told him. Alastor didn't miss that the man looked tired.
"Right. If we are doing this, I am giving no quarter. Where is the Order?" he questioned.
"Hestia is already there with Nymphadora and Remus. I don't know about anyone else," Albus confessed.
"Headmaster, we need to go," one of the Aurors said while looking at a coin. "They are almost to the minister's office."
"Alastor, please go with them. This is Captain Ericks," Albus introduced.
Alastor knew that Amelia and Scrimgeour had been silently building up the department again, but he didn't recognize any of them. The man looked to be in his mid-thirties, had large sideburns and a muscular build. "Captain."
"Mad-eye Moody? You are a bit of a legend, sir," the man replied in a light Australian accent.
He snorted. "None of the sir shite. When we go in, go in to kill. Understand lads?"
"Yes, sir," the five replied.
"Before we go, you should take this, Senior Auror," the man said, holding out a green arm band.
"What's this?" he asked, noticing the others wore black.
"It's for the Hit Wizards. It will allow you to command any Aurors nearby and give you the legal protections of a soldier," Ericks told him. Moody gruffed and took it.
When they apparated to the standard point outside the ministry, he had to duck a nasty looking blue spell with black streaks in it. It was like a war zone. Around the apparition point there had been a six foot wall of rubble and stone erected. A dozen burgundy robed Aurors were holding the apparition point as a group shot spells at them from a mound of transfigured stone about two dozen paces away. Sirens could be heard in the distance and others were trying to get the Muggle police already on the scene to back away. He noticed the yellow arm bands of Obliviators and the blue of Magical Reversal mixed in with the black, grey or green of the Aurors and Hit Wizards. No one seemed to be in charge.
"Stop holding back," Moody barked, stepping up to the Aurors hidden behind piles of rubble. "You five, maximum blasting hexes on three. You four, blast this rubble at them."
"Three! Bombarda Maxima!" He jabbed his wand. A large ball of red light raced towards the Death Eaters trying to keep them from the entrance. The other five were a second behind his. When it impacted the transfigured concrete, it blew a large chunk out of the rubble mound. The defenders in masks and black cloaks shielded the assault, but the five other blasting hexes broke most of them. Rubble and people, or parts of them, went flying. The banished rubble around them took down any that survived.
"Bloody hell!" someone yelled from his side. As paranoid he was, he had to trust the men in Auror robes. It was the only way to survive a battle like this.
He casually clumped towards the gaping hole that had been punch through the street, the basement of the muggle building and into the atrium a good hundred feet below street level. The sounds of a battle below them drifted up.
Unlike the enjoyable lark he had been on the last month and a half to capture Potter, this was serious business and Amelia had told him not to hold back should the worst happen. This was one time he would listen to his old friend and partner over Albus, who thought everyone needed ten second chances. Plus, he was just starting to understand how upset he should be at the bastards that had tortured his nephew and his wife in an attempt to destroy the last of his line and the Longbottoms.
Moody looked around. "You eight are group one, and you ten are group two. Go down in a delta pattern. Clear a spot for us to land in. Captain, get a few to help the Obliviators. We need to play this down otherwise the ICW will be coming to fix the issue," Moody ordered. No one questioned him. The two groups apparated away.
If the ICW got involved, is home country would be nothing more than a police state for the next decade.
It took only a few minutes for the team below to signal that there was a clear spot to apparate into when Albus stepped up next to him with twelve Aurors that looked to have been quickly healed and brought back.
"Has Voldemort been seen yet?" Albus asked.
A man next to them said, "He was part of the original assault."
Albus nodded his head. "Is it safe to go down?"
"I've been told that there is a clear spot. Was just about to go down," Moody told him.
Albus nodded before dissaparating. Moody looked at the injured men. "Half of you stay and help in this clean up. The last thing we need is a major breech."
"Yes sir," two of them replied.
"The rest, with me," Moody ordered.
He twisted and felt the familiar constriction of passing between two points without actually moving. He had been told the feeling was from reality bending to move them. He didn't care what it was. Either way it could be distracting for a few fractions of a second, and in a battle that could be the difference between life and death without training to overcome it. When he landed at the apparition point in the ministries atrium, he quickly looked around. Albus was already striding through the melee, ignoring most or quickly subduing any opposition by non-lethal means. Moody growled. A half-blood bastard had started this and anyone that was involved didn't deserve mercy.
The six that had followed him continued to do so as he clumped down the row of black tiled fireplaces. They were all out and half of them destroyed beyond use. The Aurors had made a rough ring of detritus and transfigured barriers. He hadn't seen action like this since the days of the Great War. He had been a young snot nosed man in the last two years of the war but had learned his lessons well about large fights between wizards.
Seeing a man in red robes and a gold star on his badge, he barked out, "Senior Auror, what is the situation?"
Albus had walked past them, striding through the melee and cacophony of battle. There was a visible auror of magic around the wizard. He was a man on a mission. As much as he had come to doubt Albus because of his infatuation with Potter, the man had changed for some reason. Though somethings never changed as anyone that got in his way was stunned, bound or petrified. Anything harmful was either transfigured into something harmless or blocked.
The fool was going to get many good men and women killed, he bitterly thought as he saw two of the stunned Death Eaters get up as though the spell meant nothing to them.
The senior auror was watching Dumbledore. "Senior Auror!" Moody barked. He didn't like that he didn't recognize many of the aurors around him. There were far more here than he had seen since the peak of the Blood Wars in the seventies.
"Sir. We have reports of heavy fighting on level two, six and nine. We are fairly sure that any resistance there was on eight, seven and four is gone. No one has made it to level one yet. We were just told a little bit ago that the Unspeakables had put some serious war wards up on level nine and one, so the minister is still safe, as far as we know," the man said. "Excuse me."
The man turned his wrist over. A coin was imbedded in his robes. It was just like the one the man on the surface had. "What is that?"
The man looked up. "Communication coin. The Unspeakables gave them to us a few months ago. You-Know-Who is on level two. He is leading a group trying to break through the Auror office."
Moody growled. "How many are here?"
"I don't know, but I would say hundreds. They just keep fighting. Unless you hit them with three or four stunners at once, they don't go down," the man told him.
"Then make sure they don't get up," Moody growled at the man.
"But we can't use Unforgivables," the man said in horror.
"Bloody fool. Cutting, piercing, blasting and a dozen other spells will take them down without using dark means. Useless. I am claiming these six and I need five others. You will send ten men to our right…" he suddenly jerked his head to the side to avoid a killing curse. "Send those men and start blasting those bleeding defences. That should give you a way in."
The senior auror looked a little dubious.
"Now! Senior Auror," he barked. He may not be an Auror anymore, but everyone recognized and respected him.
"Right. Gerber, Endfield, Westcott and Beauford, with Master Auror Moody. Quill, dig up nine others and move to the right. Blast me a hole in those walls," the senior Auror commanded.
Moody nodded and clumped off to the left, not paying attention if the others followed or not. He had a grim visage. Dozens were fighting on both sides. He passed a half dozen lifeless bodies and more that were hurt or dying. It was a grim fight.
He made it to the lifts, which they still somehow controlled. "We are going up to the second floor. We are to support and keep them from breaking through the Auror offices. If they do that, then it's a straight shot to the minister."
The ministry had been changed to allow that extra security. Scrimgeour was no fool. The man shouldn't be. He had learned from Moody himself.
"But won't they blast us if we come on the lifts?"
Moody grinned. "We ain't using the lifts, lad."
He tapped a few of the tiles near the lift. An archway like the one in Diagon Alley formed. The ten with him looked surprised. He gave a grin that made a few shiver. "There are secrets that only a few know. Now, up we get."
He led the way into the darkened passage. There were these service passages throughout the ministry. Mostly just the maintenance workers and house elves knew of them, but so to did the top brass, and he had been at the top once.
When they made it up the stairs, he didn't use the doorway next to the lifts. If Riddle was as bright as everyone said, he would have people watching the lifts. Instead, they went a few hundred feet down to another doorway. His eyes swivelled around, but the enchantments of the passageway wouldn't allow him to see through the walls. "This will open up in the law offices. They should be far enough from the Aurors to allow us a back way in. When we go in, work in teams of twos. One focuses on shield, the other attack with the most destructive spells you know. We need to clear them out as fast as possible. If they reach the minister and level one, the ministry is as good as fallen."
"Yes, sir," they echoed.
He tapped the inside of the doorway. It rattled and ground as the tiles made an archway. He was concerned that it would alert the attackers, but the noise that assaulted them drowned out any sound of the archway forming.
The offices were a wreck. There must have been a pitched battle here. His eyes swivelled everywhere. There were eight dead Aurors, a few civilians and a dozen or more downed Death Eaters.
He clumped through the carnage into the hallway that led to the lifts and the main bullpen area of the floor. The flash of spells, screaming of injured people and the general din and feel of monumental magic filled the area.
"By twos," he reminded them, then clumped down the hall. His eye could finally see. There were a dozen men watching the lifts as dozens of others were trying to break through a heavy defensive position by the stairs to level one. In the middle of the large area, two titans of magic were having their own duel, ignoring everything else around them.
"A dozen guarding the lifts. You four, into that office. Give us thirty seconds, then blast the walls apart. The rest of us will go in from the front. No prisoners," he told them. He could tell a few of the lads were uncomfortable with this, but most were fine with the order.
He counted to twenty-nine before the wall blew apart. None of the defenders were expecting an attack from the side. Three went down and two others started to scream with the debris now imbedded into them.
"Go. Go!" he ordered.
He stepped around the corner as the other six spread out. The four from the office started to cast cutting and piercing hexes. Moody didn't hold back, sending a barrage of bone breaking, blasting and piercing hexes. It was a rather short fight that cost him two Aurors, one wounded, a cut to his arm and the twelve Death Eaters down.
In the centre of the bullpen, Riddle and Dumbledore were having a duel the likes Moody had only ever seen once or twice in the Great War. The two were trading transfigurations, hexes, charms and curses in the way only mage level wizards could. Two of his men looked at it with gaping jaws.
"We still need to get to the others," he barked at them. The defenders to the stairs were losing. He counted only five left standing and they were facing almost thirty that were obviously under the control of some type of berserker potion.
"Stay in your twos. Bombarda maxima and then whatever you can do. I expect a few of them to turn and face us," he ordered.
"What about Ricardo?" one of the men questioned, indicating the Spanish man that was leaning against the wall and bleeding from a head wound, even through the bandage.
"When we are done, or none of us will survive," he said rather heartlessly. He wanted the man to live, but if they didn't do this, then none of them would. The seven still standing looked a little worse for wear, but all nodded grimly.
"Right, lads," he said, then stomped off to battle.
The first barrage caught the attackers by surprise. Six of their number went down. Eight turned to face them. Even caught between the two sides, the twenty-four men still standing put up one hell of a fight.
He watched helplessly as two of his men fell to death curses before there was a blinding light. The subsequent shockwave through him into a wall, then through it. All the fighting stopped. With his ears ringing, he slowly got up, rubble falling off his enchanted leather cloak. The enchantments were starting to fail, and it and he were cut in many places. He was quite sure his left arm was broken and a few of his ribs were too painful to only be bruised. He took his spare wand out, never wanting to be unarmed in a fight.
A heavy cloud of dust obscured everything and made it hard to breath. Other men and woman around him coughed or started to scream in pain.
"Enough, Tom," a strong voice cut through the obscuring cloud. He felt a wave of energy rush through the area before all the dust suddenly settled to the floor. Through the hole in the wall he had made he could see a few had gotten to their feet, staggering and looking hurt. He only saw two of his and three of the defenders still moving.
In the centre of the flattened and mangled area that one held dozens of office cubicles, meeting areas and other spaces for the Aurors, were the two men that had been central to all this for decades.
Albus was covered in soot and dust. His flamboyant robes dull and hanging onto his tall frame. There was a cut on his cheek that was bleeding and mixing with the dust on his face. His wand arm hung limply at his side while his left arm gripped his wand that was pointing at Riddle.
Riddle looked just as beat. His black robes were in tatters. His already pale skin was starting to look translucent. His face was gaunt and his red eyes a little duller than Moody remembered from the Ministry in June. He had multiple cuts and scrapes that were oozing a dark, almost black, blood.
Riddle scowled at Albus. "You will not win, Dumbledore."
Moody, not wanting to let this situation go, made his way out of the hole as the two men talked. There were ten of the attackers moving and starting to cast spells again. He dropped one with a piercing hex through the middle of the forehead of the white mask before starting his assault again.
By the time they had defeated the last of the Death Eaters, another two Aurors had fallen. Dumbledore and Riddle were still fighting, but it wasn't as vigorous as it had been. Needing to end this, he grabbed the woman next to him. "Attack Riddle," he ordered, moving in to transfigure some of the rubble into metal spears, then banishing them at the Dark Lord.
The man was surprised to be attacked by someone so inconsequential that it allowed Albus to get in a blue spell that Moody didn't recognize. Riddles eyes grew wide and fell to a knee. "What did you do!"
Albus held up a hand to have them stop. Moody growled and cast a few piercing hexes at Riddle. The old fool put up a shield while giving Moody a reproachful look. "I have bound part of your magic. It is now tied to my own, Tom."
Riddle roared in rage. He swiped his wand, sending out a wave of magic that bowled them all over, regardless of shields or cover. When he managed to roll over, his ribs and arm sending sharp stabs of pain through his body, he found that Riddle was gone.
Albus spun around, looking tired. It was only after a moment that he let his shoulders sag and his good arm sag to his side.
"What did you do, Albus?" Moody questioned, forcing himself to his feet. He was the only one standing. The lass that had helped was on the ground, clutching her chest and looking to have a challenging time breathing.
"It is inconsequential. We have wounded and others to help," Albus reminded him, taking a limping step over to the lass.
Moody growled. He would press the man for answers later, but for now, the man was right. They could probably still save some of the ones that had fought here, and then find out how the rest of the ministry was doing. He feared the butchers bill on this.
He did let a grim smile cross his face though as he moved to a groaning man. Riddle had thought he would take the ministry and had been forced to flee. If things were the way he thought, Riddle would be hard pressed to raise any significant force again.
-oOo-
September 18, 1996
Beauxbatons, France
Astoria sat at the small round table that dotted the café on the edge of the courtyard. Beauxbatons castle was much like a seventeen hundred baroque castle than the more traditional twelve hundred style defensive castle Hogwarts was. Other major differences was the way the French and some of the continental wizarding societies were more modern in their ways. One of them was the café they sat at.
There was a large banquet hall where most ate, but for those that wanted something different and had the pocket money, the café was a more popular spot. She had a strong tea and pastry in her hands that she set next to her dormmates.
"Have you seen Susan yet?" she asked the stunning veela girl.
Gabrielle shook her head. "Doesn't she run and meet with your mother Wednesday mornings?"
Astoria shook her head. "Mother sent us a message last night that she wouldn't be able to make it today. I thought that meant we had the morning off." They may not have lessons on Wednesday morning, but her mother was keeping her promise to Susie about training her to fight. The determination in Susan was very much her hard working personality that was attributed to most Hufflepuffs. It was that determination that probably still had Susan running and doing the workout her mother had given them.
Gabrielle shrugged. "Susan strikes me as someone that wouldn't just give up like that."
"No, she wouldn't. I'll get her a pastry when we leave," Astoria told her.
A few owls fluttered into the café. Astoria looked up to see if one was delivering the Daily Prophet. Susan had insisted they keep up with what was going on in Britain, so Astoria and her split a subscription. Though, it was usually a day behind as the Prophetsowls didn't have international licences.
When the owl landed on the table, she looked at it surprised. Two papers were on its leg. She took them off and put the four sickles into the pouch it required. The owl didn't wait and took off.
Gabrielle sipped at her café. "Anything interesting today?"
"Don't know…" she spat out the tea she had started to drink as she unfurled the papers.
"MERDE! What was that, Astoria!" Gabrielle complained loudly. She stood up quickly, toppling her chair over. Astoria ignored her new friend, her gut clenching and her mouth gaping open. There were a few others that had fled Britain or those that kept up with the international news around them having similar reaction.
"Bloody fuck," Astoria muttered, looking at the special late edition from two days ago.
Gabrielle's indignant expression grew concerned. "What is it?" she asked in a heavy French accent.
Astoria lay the paper on the table. The picture on the cover showed the atrium. The statue of Brethren was a molten slag. Piles of rubble, bodies, injured people and deep scars in the stone floor and walls were visible everywhere. "Merde!" Gabrielle said in a more subdued way.
"That's my mum!" someone cried out. Astoria looked up to see a very pale girl that was a few years younger than her. She quickly ran out as everyone in the café rushed to see what the fuss was about.
Astoria swallowed. Jumping up, she grabbed the papers. Gabrielle hurried after her. "We have to go find Susan and get hold of my parents."
Astoria hadn't really read any of the headlines on the two papers:
You-know-who defeated!
Dumbledore admitted to Saint Mungo's!
More than three hundred dead. Saint Mungo's over capacity with wounded!
Minister Scrimgeour vows to hunt the rest of You-Know-Who's forces.
Ministry reveals Auror build-up and leasing program. More than seven hundred Aurors from around the world save ministry.
Muggles on alert after terrorist attack in the centre of London! Ministry on Notice.
-oOo-
Next time on Dear Order: Croaker and Bill get close to ending Riddle while our favourite couple obtains the asylum they want, Draco gets his just rewards and more…