The words jumped out at Ennis Clark, one of the best Aurors the Ministry has got, as he settled into his chair inside his dark, isolated office. He flicked his wand with a sigh, and every book off a shelf, and anything out of line, immediately found their place. He stared at the paper dully, almost shocked at what extents people were going to just to make a few Galleons. The economy was fluctuating wildly and the Ministry was tight on giving people jobs, so he almost understood why they were doing what they had. In fact, he almost sympathized. Yes, he had sympathy for those struggling to provide for themselves, even if they were using much Dark magic to earn what they do.

A short, stubby man entered the office, his dark eyes narrowed at Ennis' desk, who was now lounged backwards, reading the Daily Prophet stretched away from his face.

"Ennis Clark, I forbid you!" he hissed quickly, slamming his clenched fists on Ennis' desk. He warily backed away as Ennis gave a dazed look.

"What exactly are we talking about?" he asked with a smirk. "Oh, wait—oh, you mean those Inferi, do you? Not to worry, boss, I'm not going to . . . ah, forget it. I've got to! Come on! They're going to hit London soon, and, well, imagine what the muggles will think when they see a lot of corpses making their way into their city?"

Ennis' boss, Aberle Hartwick, was now fuming mad, spittle launched out of his mouth as he barked, "ENNIS, I SAID I FORBID YOU! IF I EVEN HEAR OR SEE YOU'VE ATTEMPTED TO, YOU'LL BE IMMEDIATELY FIRED FROM THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC!"

However, as Ennis just stared blankly, Aberle added, "At least . . . if you go alone."

"Wait," he said quickly, confused. "Who else am I going to go with? I'm the best Auror you've got! You've said so yourself. You're worried I can't handle a few Inferi myself, so you're going to send one of the new kids with me?"

Aberle just sighed heavily. "Look, Inferi like to overwhelm their threats. And their creator is bound to be close, and I'll bet you a month's salary that he knows we're sending people. He'll be ready, he will. It's best to go in a pair, you know, to get all the Inferi out of the way as quickly as you can, in case the creator attacks. Maybe he's not even there. Perhaps he just created them without any cause, other than to cause chaos."

Ennis looked down at the foldednewspaper on his desk, thinking of who he could possibly go with that would make things less risky.

"Who is it? Who will I be going with?"

A smile crept onto Aberle's face.

"A new guy, name's Oscar or somethin' of the sort. I like him. Was trained well, he was. Knows his stuff, that's fer sure. He'll know what to do. Not like the rest of the new guys."

Ennis just shrugged.

"Oscar, you can come in now,"

A tall, lean man entered the office. A beaded ponytail dangled over his shoulder, the rest of his thick hair to the side.

"Ah, Aberle, " He said with a grin. "This must be Ennis, I presume."

Ennis nodded, not making eye contact.

"So, er, I'm guessing we ought to head out soon, correct?"

Again, he nodded, not meeting his gaze. Aberle was now silent, seeming to itch with excitement as he anxiously waited to see if the two would be able to work together.

"You can Apparate, correct?" Ennis asked sternly, and if the answer were a "no" there would be nothing but disapproval. So far, he wasn't convinced that this Al fellow could do the job. He seemed a little over his head.

Oscar nodded, unsure whether or not to grin further. Instead, he scratched the back of his head in less than a half-convincing manner.

"Well, Aberle, mind if we just get this over with? Sign us out, would you," and with a loud crack, Ennis had Disapparated out of the office.

There was an odd silence between Oscar and Aberle, as Oscar stood quietly.

"Go on," Aberle said.

Al smiled briefly at his new boss and, he too vanished from the office with a loud crack.

The two Aurors—Ennis and Oscar—stood together in a quiet meadow, nothing but the sound of very few wildlife crawling throughout the weeds.

Ahead was a long dark forest which seemed to stretch on for miles. It almost acted like a barrier between London and whatever was up ahead. However, they were on the magical side of London, and there would certainly be no muggles, nor non-magical creatures. Instead, if they were to encounter something such as a dragon, they'd have nothing but their wands to defend themselves with.

However, dragons seemed a little too extreme for this forest. Dragons like to settle in large mountains, or dark caves.

But, that didn't mean there weren't an unknown amount of Inferi—along with, potentially, the Dark Wizard who had created him—and little did Ennis and Oscar know the extents as to which the wizard knew about Dark Magic. Perhaps he were very good at what he does, and could use the Unforgivable Curses willingly without the fear of being sent to Azkaban? Not only that, but there were monsters, lifeless monsters, nothing but corpse that he had created, alongside him. Maybe he wasn't even in there, perhaps it were just his Inferi, as he sat back and let the chaos unfold.

With the suspense of not knowing, a large factor of being an Auror, they Apparated a short distance into the forest, for the entrance was covered in magical plants, which snap at you viciously, should you get close enough. Not only that, but they were covered in toxic thorns.

There was a light fog which only seemed to become heavier as they advanced further and further, their only sources of light being their lit wands. The silence was disturbing; the only noises were the sounds of their breathing, which they were struggling to keep paced, and the sounds of their feet settling into the moist mud.

"Say, how do we even kill these things? I remember reading about Inferi back when I was being trained, but they're so uncommon that I . . . well, forget." Oscar asked, and his face flushed.

However, Ennis hid the fact that his did as well when he said, "I'm not even sure either. Guess we'll have to wing it." He said coolly with what seemed to be an amused tone to his voice.

Oscar gulped, but within a few moments, the thought came to mind again.

"Wait, they're dead, theoretically, aren't they?" he said excitedly, as if he were onto something. "So something like, I don't know, Stupefy, wouldn't do much. Nor would Confringo."

"How about tearing them open?" Ennis cut him off. "Or, leaving them nothing—essentially exploding them." He said with a clearly amused tone. He almost seemed to enjoy this. "Expulso ought to do. Maybe Confringo, depends."

With yet another gulp, Oscar and Ennis progressed further into the forest again, walking aimlelssly. They didn't know where they were headed, and Apparating would be too inaccurate with their lack of sight, esentially leaving them splinched if they attempted.

"Can we stop for a moment?" Oscar asked finally, panting. "My feet are . . "

"Oscar, don't move." Ennis cut him off with a whisper.

Oscar seemed to be about to question what Ennis was getting at, but his eyes widened when he heard a quiet groaning, eerie noise.

"When I say," Ennis whispered anxiously. "I want you to Apparate next to me, your wand at the ready."

Oscar seemed to be horror-struck as he closed his eyes.

"Okay, go!" Ennis bellowed. There was a loud crack, and Oscar had Disapparated, landing just next to Ennis.

The groaning noise came to a halt, and then there was a hissing like they had both never heard before. There were four worn-down bodies crawling towards them, their skin seeming as it would peel off should it be touched. Their eyes were empty and black, their lips a light gray, as if they had not made contact with anything in years. They almost seemed to consist of dust, or worn flesh.

Inferi, much to Ennis and Oscar's dismay, were much faster than they'd anticipated. Their gloomy movements surely had been to deceive their prey, for they were now almost sprinting towards the two.

With a nonverbal incantation from Oscar, there was a jet of red light, which collided with one of the Inferi. It flinched back for a second, though it didn't collapse or anything of the sort. The only change that occurred was that it sped up, now hissing foully.

"Expulso!", Ennis shouted, and one Inferi's arm seemed to have exploded into dust. However, it was still slumbering towards the two. Ennis brandished his wand again, and a chunk of its head came off, though there seemed to be no skull, no nothing. Again, he flicked his wand. A piece of its arm, gone, and again, now a piece of its leg missing.

As the Inferi progressed, the two backed away hopelessly, casting anything that came to mind. Two Inferi seemed to be leading the other two, for they were in front. Though most of their body had seemed to deteriorated, they were still advancing forward.

"Get out of here!" Ennis shouted. "Go! Apparate to anywhere you think of! I got this! Don't get help! Now! Go! Confringo! Now! Before it's too late! Expluso!"

One Inferi seemed to have nothing left to be taken away, it finally collapsed to the ground with a faint hiss, and stopped moving. It was almost nothing. Just a silky matter on the forest floor.

"I'm—Incendio—not leaving!" Oscar hissed back. One of the Inferi was now set ablaze and on the forest floor, crawling aimlessly, as it was slowly being scorched to its final death.

Ennis didn't say a thing other than incantations. Although he were trying to protect Oscar, he was almost relieved he didn't leave, for he could use the help.

They were now backing up into a large, brisk tree, the trunk at least several feet round. It wasn't until they heard a brushing noise that they realized it wasn't any ordinary tree—it was a Whomping Willow.

The Inferi, however, obviously couldn't tell it apart from anything else. They seemed to have no intelligence. They only knew how to seek and kill whoever got in their way.

The two Aurors were quick to notice this, and quickly moved out of the way. The Inferi, not able to distinguish anything other than who they were assigned to kill, sauntered towards it. The willow slammed the ground with a large branch. The ground shook, and one Inferi let out a blood-curdling shriek. A chunk of its arm was taken off, and then the rest entirely as another branch whipped whatever it could find.

There was only one left, which seemed to be fully intact. A large bulky branch belonging to the willow swept along the forest floor, and much to Ennis and his partner's fortune, collided with the Inferi, ripping its upper half sharply off the rest of its body. There was now nothing but a raging willow and more silky remains on the ground of the forest.

Ennis was the first to pant heavily, as if exhausted, and the two expected nothing less than each other. They were both shocked as to how much of a challenge that truly was. They seemed much more vicious and vile than any ordinary Inferi, and there was only one way that could happen; the creator, whoever it was, had desperately wanted them to complete whatever it was he created them for, and the reason for that, they didn't know.

The whomping willow was still furiously whipping and slamming its branches, though it had no reason to. Oscar and Ennis were both several feet away. Perhaps it still felt threatened – but why could it?

Ennis suddenly had the feeling he and his new partner weren't alone. He zoned out, focusing on whatever he could hear as Oscar carried on, speculating who the creator was, although they had no leads. They only knew it was a Dark Wizard; maybe one who was paid to do this, for whatever reason.

Back at the Auror's office, the two were still a little overwhelmed. They were silent as the office was filled with the sound of loud cracking noises and quills scraping parchment.

"Ah," Aberle said suddenly, seeming to have come out of nowhere. "Take care of 'em, did you? Wasn't too hard, was it? I told you a partner would help, Ennis!" He hardly gave either of them a chance to talk.

However, Ennis butt in. "No, it wasn't easy. In fact, if it weren't for Oscar, I'd certainly be dead, I'll have you know. These weren't just normal Inferi, Aberle," their bosses face turned from being overly enthusiastic, to suddenly alarmed ,"they were fast, and very vicious."
"Er, I see," Aberle said, scratching the side of his head. "Well, you two up for some more work today?"

Ennis groaned. However, this was the first time he's ever been anything less than enthusiastic about a job as an Auror. "Depends. You down, Oscar, mate?"

"Blimey, two jobs as an Auror on my first day? Of course I'll go!" He said much more enthusiastically than Ennis had.

"Perfect," Aberle said quietly. "Well, it appears there's three or four Dark Wizards trying to make their ways to Azkaban. Supposedly to set free some of their allies that supported You-Know-Who. Do what you must to stop 'em. We don't need yet another Wizarding War. Lost enough of our kind already, we have."

However, it appeared Oscar's perspective had changed entirely as Azkaban was mentioned. "A-Azkaban? With . . . Dementors?"

Ennis rolled his eyes. "Obviously Aberle hasn't told you about my excellent skills with Charms, has he? You'll be fine. Just stick close. Chances are these punks will just be a load of rubbish, not knowing much about what they're even getting themselves into. Won't even make it half-way past the guard, I'm guessing." Ennis said, unamused. "We'll need brooms,"

Again, Oscar seemed panicked. "We'll be flying?"

"How else d'you plan to get to a massive prison in the middle of the sea, mate?"

Oscar shrugged with a sigh, but said, "But I haven't a broom!" like it'd get him out of this situation without seeming like a coward.

Ennis turned to face the other side of the Auror's office, where a large cabinet lay. Above, a large sign read, BROOMSTICKS.

Ennis strut towards the cabinet gloomly and retrieved two Firebolt's. He held one in each hand, tossing one lightly to Oscar. He caught it limply and examined it thoroughly.

"Wow, a firebolt! Really? How do they provide so many? Things are bloody expensive!" He said, clearly impressed, although underestimating the Ministry.

"We work for the Ministry, Oscar," Ennis said slowly like he was missing an obvious factor. Which surely, he was. "They have loads of 'em made for us Aurors. You may not believe it, but lots of Dark Wizards resort to using brooms for quick getaways, or faster traveling. Not many are great Apparators—plenty haven't even attempted to take the test."

Oscar just nodded, understanding, as his eyes were fixed on the Firebolt.

Ennis showed Oscar to the center of the Auror's office, where there was a large panel of the ceiling missing, solely for the use of exiting with brooms. Together, they mounted and kicked off, leaving papers rustling from the gust of wind. Grunts filled the office, along with plenty of cusses.

Oscar seemed to be loving the fact he was flying a Firebolt, though he was having a hard time controlling it. They seemed to be flying for only a short time as they approached an isolated sea somewhere far off the coast. However, it were hidden to muggles, having many enchantments placed on it. The sky seemed to dim, and the weather seemed to drop. They descended a fair amount, not having to avoid being seen by muggles now. There was a large, black tower, shaped like a triangle just in the center of the sea. The weather dropped drastically as they hovered in one spot, scouting out the area.

Behind them slightly were large mountains, and they were sure that's where the Wizards whom would attempt to set free their friends would come from, and so they waited and waited.

"So, Oscar," Ennis said to create small-talk. They'd be stuck in the same place for an unknown period of time to both, so they ought to make the best of it. "Attend Hogwart's, did you?"

Oscar smiled and nodded pleasantly. It appeared that, no matter how dim and eerie the location they were in was, the thought of Hogwart's was pleasurable to Oscar, and Ennis took note to that.

"Perfect—I want you to keep those years at Hogwart's on your mind if we need to go near the prison. Heavily guarded with Dementors, as you're well aware. You know the incantation to cast a fully developed Patronus, correct?"

Oscar nodded, seeming worried again.

"Hey, mate, don't worry. We won't need to go near 'em. The first guard, just over there," Ennis pointed below to the peak of the mountains, almost entirely invisible to them both from this distance, "has more enchantments than you'd be able to think of. They won't make it past there, I tell you,"

"But they'll be flying, won't they?" Oscar caught on, having Ennis' attempt at reassuring him do nothing.

"More than probably. But we are, too,"

And so the small talk continued for what seemed to almost half the day. They were both thankful hat Firebolts were crafted to feel almost comfortable to be on, for they were positioned in the same spot for what seemed to be ages, hovering in a thick blanket of clouds.

However, they were finally given something to do when they spot out three black cloaks rippling in the wind just below them. They were flying almost too low; their brooms almost touching the water. However, Ennis instructed for Oscar to wait. There was still half a mile until they were to hit the tower, and the sea was plagued with merpeople and giant squids. Ennis believed these Wizards clearly hadn't an idea what Azkaban consisted of, for they were carelessly soaring on their brooms.

Slowly and stealthily, Ennis and Oscar descended further, trailing the Wizards slowly. They could see black figures in the water, circling the three cloaked figures on brooms. Something skinny and scaley plunged out of the water with a spiked pole in its hand. It collided with one of the fliers. They both were now slowly sinking into the black water as the other two Wizards on brooms panicked and made sharp turns to face where the figure had came from.

"See," Ennis said quietly as he flew closer to Oscar. "The guard is doing the work for us, mostly."

It was obvious that the first figure whom was brought down into the sea wouldn't resurface, and Ennis cringed as he thought about what was happening to him down there. The two remaining Wizards sped up, leaning forward, desperate for more speed.

"Let's go," Ennis instructed and dove into the air, hovering only slightly above one of the frantic Wizards. His presence went unknown until a jet of green light soared just above his head.

Oscar didn't miss his opportunity. They were both spotted, and there was no changing that.

"Rektusempra!" He cried out, and a jet of purple light soared through the air, colliding with his target. He began wailing in laughter, losing control of his broom. He tumbled backwards and sunk deep into the sea.

There was only one Wizard left, from what they could tell. He was flying towards the black tower, hoping it would be its salvation. Although nothing good would come from it, and Ennis almost sympathized.

From above, a dark hooded figure revealed itself from inside a cloud, gliding towards the remaining Wizard. He retrieved his unusually short wand from his boot and aimed it at the Dementor. Obviously untrained, he cast a Stunning spell, which seemingly soared right through the Dementor's cloak.

The Dementor advanced closer, soaring in circles around him. He became frantic, trying to avoid it. However, the Dementor was persistent. It began sucking the very soul out of the wizard, as he too fell off his broom. He hung on to the mid-section of the broom with whatever hope had remained. He tried swinging his leg over to mount it, but Ennis decided to just put an end to the whole charade.

From afar, he firstly conjured up a memory of when he had received his letter informing him he was now the newest addition to the Ministry of Magic. "Expecto Patronum!"

A large white bird burst out from the tip of the wand, leaving white vapour behind as it flew through the air. It collided with the Dementor, which seemed to be sent back through the air and fled. The bird swooped into the air, inside a cloud, and vanished.

The last Wizard was still clinging onto his broom for dear life when Oscar shouted, "Stupefy!"

The Stunning spell burst from his wand as it vibrated strongly. The red light hit the Wizard's mid-section, and he too had plummeted into the sea. However, it wasn't just any sort of fall. A large tentacle reached out from the water and gripped his waist, pulling him down faster than he would have normally fell.