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 Algar Aldway 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.

"Algar, 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, please, call me 'Al'!" 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.

Al 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 Al and Aberle, as Al 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 Al—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 Al 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." Al 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.

Al 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, Al 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?" Al asked finally, panting. "My feet are . . "

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

Al 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."

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

"Okay, go!" Ennis bellowed. There was a loud crack, and Al 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 Al'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 Al, 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—leaving!" Al hissed back. One of the Inferi was now set ablaze and on the ocean 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 Al, 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 the only reason they could agree on was that the creator made them that way.