"And now the battle again raged furiously at the ships. You would have thought the men were coming on fresh and unwearied, so fiercely did they fight." (Iliad, Homer)
The sparks shone green; the sparks shone red. The sparks flew over the dead men's heads.
It was a battle for the ages, a battle that, as Alastor Moody thought more and more about it, had lasted for ages. It was the same battle that had started at the beginning of time - good against evil; light against dark; warm against cold. It was a battle that had not only been raging for ages already, but as far as he could see, had no end in sight. It was the same battle everyone had heard stories of before. The same stories would never end, for it's what fueled both sides. The good fought the evil, and the good side won. Then evil recharged and came sprinting out ahead of good the next time around. It was an infinite loop.
This particular instance was the beginning of a very significant era of the war. This was the first time the Order of the Phoenix stepped up to a full-scale battle against the Dark Lord's notorious Death Eaters. The leaders of these groups, Albus Dumbledore and Lord Voldemort were absent from the fight; their respective parties believed them to be off pursuing magic unbeknownst to them that would further their causes.
The first clash in any war is always the greatest, for nobody is tired yet. All of the energy and passion is still there; none has dwindled due to the effects of past battles. That is why one particular duel, one that has replayed in the memories of those who witnessed said battle ever since that mist-filled night, always stands out in particular. The finale of this battle was what had always struck people as one of the most amazing feats every witnessed, and is the very reason why Alastor Moody became a force to be reckoned with in the wizarding world. He was the fiercest Auror any dark wizard ever stood up against.
The Order of the Phoenix appeared after being alerted to the presence of dark wizards in Hogsmeade, who were apparently trying to apprehend Ambrosius Flume and his wife. Evan Rosier and his father Ethan were on the scene, using the Cruciatus Curse on the Flumes, when Alastor Moody popped into sight. It was at the arrival of Moody and Dorcas Meadows that other Death Eaters began to arrive on site. Within minutes, the streets were teaming with members of both sides of the war, and sparks were flying everywhere.
Hogsmeade Village was roaring with the crashing sounds of windows being reduced to shards of glass. Spells of all colors were being fired at will from the tips of wooden sticks held in the hands of dozens of cloaked figures; some were in black masks and some were in white masks, while others did not see the necessity in hiding their identity, perhaps under the assumption they would not survive the battle.
Men and women who were, perhaps, old friends from school were fighting, while others were fighting against cousins, even siblings. The sanctity of being pure of blood was the great divide. There were members of both sides dead on the ground within ten minutes of dueling; the colors soaring overhead like a tribute to their memories.
Together they fight, father and son. Wands against wand, two against one.
As Moody fired spell upon spell at Bellatrix Lestrange, he felt something hard hit him in the cheek from the side, and felt that familiar hot, sticky feeling on his face. As Sirius Black rushed to his aid in fighting Bellatrix, Moody looked to the side and saw Evan Rosier laughing. At once, Moody knew it was Rosier who had just destroyed his face.
Evan Rosier shot another curse at him, but it was deflected with ease.
"You should try a little harder, Rosier," spat Moody, deflecting yet another curse aimed right for his head. "Put a little more meaning in it."
"Oh, trust me, Moody, I meant it! Crucio!" Evan Rosier shouted, bringing his wand down with a sharp movement. The curse never made it to Moody, however, who had anticipated this maneuver and enacted a perfect shielding charm around him.
"How long have I known you, Evan? Your father and I go way back. I remember the first time I put him in Azkaban." At this remark, Ethan Rosier burst through to where his son was standing, and raised his wand to fight Alastor Moody once more.
"Oh, Ethan, I do applaud your efforts. You, like I, must subscribe to the philosophy of constant vigilance. It seems you never learn your lesson. Stupefy!" A red burst of light shot out of his wand and hit the elder Rosier square in the chest.
He had fought Ethan Rosier on several occasions since first becoming an Auror. Ethan Rosier had always loved causing trouble in public places, to make himself more well-known and more feared. All he had done was humiliate himself, because Moody had shown up on all such occasions. Rosier had never been able to escape once Moody got involved; he knew Rosier's fighting style all too well. Moody had even raided the Rosiers' house on several different occasions, in search of dark magical objects. It was on these occasions that he had met the younger Rosier, Evan, who was now only 17 years of age, just barely considered an adult in the wizarding community. There was no doubt in Moody's mind that Evan Rosier was forced into the current predicament by his father; he knew Evan was just a boy, and could not have made this kind of decision by himself. His father was a dark wizard, and no doubt wanted his son to follow in his footsteps, in the path he undoubtedly thought was best for his son.
While busy worrying about the elder Rosier, Moody had not realized that Evan had shot yet another curse in his direction, this time leaving yet another large gash in his cheek. Moody, unwilling to continue having his face mutilated, stunned Evan Rosier, who landed right beside his father.
Fire burns deep, fire burns long. But fire also birthed the phoenix song.
"Incendio!" a man shouted from across the alley. At this, Moody's robes went up in flames. Wordlessly, Moody shot water from his wand and put out the fire, but the damage was done. He shed his cloak and faced the unmasked Death Eater now storming across the alley towards him.
"Ah, Karkaroff, I should have known it was you. Still obsessed with fire, are we?"
"You must be slipping." Karkaroff's eyes burned with its intentions of destroying the Auror standing before him.
"I've been meaning to ask you, that is if I ever happened to run into you again, did you set that fire the other week in Spinner's End?"
"Of course I did. Who else could have done such a beautiful thing?"
"Yes, that looked like your handy work." Moody aimed a jinx at Karkaroff, but it was deflected easily, and went crashing against a brick wall.
"Tsk tsk, Moody. You really must be slipping if you thought that one would work." Karkaroff aimed his wand and a fiery rope came shooting out, aiming right for Moody, who's shield charm caused it to fly off in another direction, hitting a wall mere inches from the head of Evan Rosier.
"I could say the same thing right back to you, Karkaroff." Moody hit Karkaroff with a stunning spell, but it was not strong enough to fully stun him. Karkaroff got right back to his feet.
After aiming his wand at Moody, a large burst of flames came flying at him, hitting Moody right in his left eye. He collapsed to the ground clutching his face as Karkaroff stood above him laughing. The fire was burning his eye, but constrained itself solely to that. It was fiendfyre, Moody knew - cursed fire. His eye was turning to ashes as he wriggled on the ground in pain, hands still clutching his face.
"That was too easy, Moody. But I must say, deeply fulfilling. I never thought I'd take down you." Karkaroff still stood above him, a giant grin widening across his dark face.
With tremendous effort, Alastor Moody began to push himself off of the ground, reaching and grasping his wand on the way to his feet. As he stood in front of Karkaroff, the wind blew the ashes from his face. The ashes flew from a hollow area in his face where his eye once was. He still winced in pain as he tried to muster the courage to fight back.
"You don't give up, do you?" Karkaroff laughed as Moody stood there, wand down to his side, with not enough strength to fully stand up
"I sure don't. Get it? 'Eye' sure don't?" Moody finally regained balance, raising his wand high in the air. "As I always say, Igor, Constant Vigilance!" Moody brought his wand down in a great swiping motion, shooting what appeared to be a great yellow ball of pure magic out of the end of his wand, smashing into Karkaroff and throwing him back against a wall. This seemed to be the last of his energy, and he collapsed to the ground, wand falling from his hand.
Bellatrix Lestrange ran over to the pile of bodies leaning against the wall opposite him - Karkaroff and the two Rosiers - and apparated away with great effort to bring the three men with her. As Dorcas came over to help Moody apparate away, he refused her hand.
"I can do it myself, Dorcas. Don't worry about me." He was now crawling to where his wand had rolled to pick it up. As he stood up once again, he saw that half of the Order was standing there, watching him in awe as he refused to give up. "I'm fine. Don't worry about me," he told them all, his voice barely a whisper, as he limped down the road.
Still, everyone stood watching this man, who they all now believed to be one of the greatest wizards they've ever met, as he vanished from sight.