Disclaimer: I don't own anything Harry Potter related. Also this is part 1 of 2, more explanation near the bottom.
Warning: Graphic zombie descriptions. Blood and death and what not.
Dawn of the Inferi!!!
The end of the world started like any other day. It was a Sunday. The streets of London were crowded with people, and the sky was surprisingly clear. No one could have guessed that the world would be over within a few weeks. No one can pinpoint exactly when the end of the world started, but most records and data point to a car crash.
An erratic driver ran a red light on Fleet street and t-boned a mini-van. The man was thrown from his car and landed nearly twenty feet away. The occupants of the mini-van suffered minor injuries but were otherwise fine. An ambulance and a street cop arrived within minutes. The man of the other car was declared dead on the scene.
The only problem was that he didn't stay dead. The ambulance transporting the body to the hospital for an autopsy crashed on the way. The man who had been dead crawled out the back of the ambulance his face covered in blood. No eye witness accounts survived what has come to be known as the "Fall". A camera meant to capture cars running red lights did manage to catch the aftermath of the ambulance crash.
Passer-bys stopped to watch the crash, and a few even approached the crash as if to help. When the first man crawled out three people rushed forward to try and help him. A second later one of the drivers stumbled out of the passenger seat screaming something. It was already too late.
The man now known only as specimen zero took a large chunk out of one mans neck before tackling a second man to the ground trying desperately to bite deeply into the mans chest. The third man stunned at first, reacted quickly and attempted to grab specimen zero. He unfortunately made the grave mistake of placing one hand over his mouth. Specimen zero quickly took a large bite out of his hand.
After that the infection spread quickly. Within two days London was in a panic. Unfortunately one portion of the population was totally unaware. The wizarding world had separated themselves so much from the muggle world over time that as doom approached they had no idea. They simply went about their lives as normal. Perhaps their government might have noticed if their attention hadn't been focused elsewhere.
***
It had been five years since Harry Potter had defeated the Dark Lord Voldemort. The wizarding world had been busy rebuilding. The heroes of the last war were desperately trying to move on with their lives. Harry had become an auror, along with Ron. Hermione worked in some mostly unimportant branch of the Ministry pretending that her job actually was important.
Harry had graduated from the Auror academy after only a year and a half of training, and had received his first major assignment within six months of graduating. This project was finally coming to a close. It had seemed easy at the beginning, but the project had quickly become an exhausting ordeal.
Harry had been placed in charge of a large Ministry taskforce responsible for building a super bunker from which the highest levels of government could operate from in an emergency. The project had taken nearly three years to complete and tonight would be the official unveiling. Harry was relieved and proud to have seen the project through to an extremely successful end, there was however one downside.
Two years after graduation Harry and Ginny had moved in together. The first three years after Voldemort's downfall had been bliss. The project, code named the Ark, had put a major strain on their relationship though. Harry had begun working from early in the morning to very late at night, taking few if any days off. During the most strenuous parts of the project, Ginny would be lucky if she saw Harry once a month. Her job as a chaser for the Holyhead Harpies kept her busy, but no where near as busy as Harry's job.
Finally the stress and frustration had taken its toll. Harry arrived home at one a.m. the night of their anniversary to find Ginny asleep at the table, an entire dinner prepared. When he woke her up she was mad beyond belief and began screaming. Harry screamed back in kind. After nearly an hour of screaming at one another Ginny left.
Neither had seen each other in a month nor spoken to one another. Hermione and Ron had shown up two days after Ginny left and collected her things. Harry had pushed himself full force into the final preparations for the unveiling of the Ark. Many nights he had slept in his office rather than return to his apartment. The unveiling ceremony would be small, only twenty maybe thirty people. The Minister and all the Department Heads, along with a reporter or two and Harry's fellow project leaders.
Harry arrived at the ceremony an hour early in his finest Auror robes. His Order of Merlin First Class sparkled from it's place on his chest. Thirty minutes later the rest of those required to be there began to trickle in. At seven p.m. on the dot the Minister and all the Department Heads entered the Atrium where those going to the unveiling would be departing from.
The Ark was special in that it was located five hundred meters under London. The only way to get in was through specially made Portkeys. The Ark was 100% secured and the Portkeys could only enter and exit through three locations. Each Portkey could only transport two people at a time. The inside of the Ark was lit and powered by a mix of electricity and magic.
The structure had enough supplies and space to accommodate two hundred people for two years. There were also two dozen house elves that could gather supplies and such should the need arise. The entire complex was built around a central command center. Harry had utilized the spells used on the Marauders map to create several maps covering all the major magical areas in England. The only difference was that these maps appeared on computer screens instead of parchment.
Once the Minster had arrived Harry handed out one portkey to every two people. He himself would be sharing one with Minster Shacklebolt. Making sure everyone had their Portkeys gripped tightly Harry gave a quick nod to Shacklebolt before tapping his with his wand.
***
The Leaky Cauldron was a dusty beaten up old bar in downtown London. It was historical for magical people, but to muggles it was another old pub that refused to close. The important thing about the Leaky Cauldron was that it was one of the most active boundaries between the wizarding world and the muggle world. It makes sense then that this was where the disease destroying the muggle world would first cross over into the wizarding world.
***
At eight p.m. on a Thursday the Leaky Cauldron was understandably empty. There were only a few cloaked figures in some of the back booths. Tom the bartender stood behind the bar cleaning an eternally dirty glass. Tom nodded to a few last minute shoppers from Diagon Alley as they flooed away to their homes. There were only two men huddled in a back corner left in the bar.
Tom was preparing to extinguish some of the candles around the main pub area when the door leading to muggle London burst open. A cloaked man staggered in before collapsing onto the bar. Blood was dripping from two nasty bites on his arm and chest. Tom hurried forward to help the man, the two men in the back disappearing quickly, knowing authorities wouldn't be far behind an injured man.
The mans cloak fell back revealing his face to Tom as he approached. "Jesus MacMillian, just stay still. Let me look at those wounds."
Ernie MacMillian sat back on a barstool breathing raggedly as blood continued to pour from his wounds. Tom used one of his cleaner bar rags to bandage the wound on Ernie's arm. He would use his wand but he was no good at healing spells. Just as Tom turned to go floo for a healer Ernie grabbed his arm stopping him.
"T-Tom, warn… warn the others… the dead… the dead are coming to… to life." With that last sentence Ernie MacMillian's body went slack and he slowly slid off the barstool. His death grip on Tom's arm nearly taking the old bartender down with him.
"Merlin, You were a good kid Ernie." Tom said as he pried his arm from Ernie's grip and turned towards the fireplace. A dead body in a bar was not good for business. "Saint Mungo's!" Tom yelled as he put his head into the fireplace.
Tom quickly realized all of the fireplaces at St. Mungo's must be in use as his head continued to float in a murky green nether. After two minutes Tom heard a shuffling sound behind him. Tom looked back over his shoulder but the bar was blurred by the flames.
"One minute, I'm callin the authorities to help poor Ernie over there." He called out when he saw a blurred figure moving around by where Ernie's body was.
The figure moaned sadly in reply and Tom shook his head in empathy. "I know what you mean, a horrible way to go. Did you know Ernie?" Tom glanced back and noticed the figure moving towards him.
Once again the figure moaned. It raised an arm and started grabbing towards where Tom was kneeling in front of the fire.
"You alright pal?" Tom said and pulled his head out of the fire and it extinguished behind him. The figure had stopped moving and remained in the shadows. "Sir, you alright?"
The figure moaned loudly and a shiver ran down Tom's spine. A second later the figure shambled forward towards Tom.
"Ern- Ahhh!" Those were Tom's last words before what had once been Ernie MacMillian bit deeply into his throat cutting off all speech.
As if destined by fate or some strange source, the bar remained empty for the rest of the night. The morning however, would bring about a totally different story.
***
Harry had been placed in charge of leading the entire group around the Ark. For most it was the first time ever viewing the completed complex. After visiting the kitchens, quarters, and recreational facilities, Harry ended the tour in the main control room.
"As you can see from here we are able to monitor all of Wizarding Britain. No fugitive can hide long from our sensors." The group applauded in wonderment as Harry demonstrated the new mapping system by pulling up a map of Hogsmeade. "It looks like Hagrid is on his way out of the Hogs Head. Oh look there's old Dung, I think we need to have him brought in over a trade dispute."
Harry shook his head to clear it and turned back to his guests. They all seemed highly pleased with the development of the safe house. "You've all been granted ten portkeys for your most trusted and experienced employees. If you feel you need more it must first be cleared with Minister Shacklebolt." Harry said addressing the various Department Heads.
"Training for the use of the tools down here will begin two days from now. I hope everything has proven satisfactory to you Minister?" Harry asked nodding his head in a show of respect to the Minister.
"This goes above and beyond anything I could possibly have hoped for when I assigned you this project Auror Potter. You shall certainly be receiving a promotion for your work here." Shacklebolt said nodding appreciatively to Harry. "For tonight however it is growing late. I believe we should retire for the night so that we are fully rested in the morning." With that said the majority of the wizards began heading back towards the closest portkey point.
Harry stayed behind for a few seconds and moved to one of the computer consoles. He typed in a command quickly and smiled as a map of the Burrow appeared on the screen. It was split into floors and then a separate one for the grounds. Harry quickly zoomed in on Ginny's room and smiled upon finding her dot resting peacefully where her bed should be.
"You miss her a lot don't you?" Harry spun around sharply to find Kingsley leaning leisurely against the nearest doorframe.
"Yes sir." Harry answered glancing back at the dot with her name on the screen.
"Good, I've decided to have you moved to a desk job." Kingsley held up a hand quickly to stop the protest trying to escape Harry's lips. "We have plenty of field agents Harry. It's time the wizarding worlds hero had his happy ending. If you don't start working normal nine to five shifts I won't hesitate to fire you."
"Sir please, I know I can-" Harry stopped talking instantly when Kingsley once again raised his hand.
"I don't care Harry. Once the last details on this project are finished you had better promise me, you're going to go out and win Ginny back." Kingsley raised an eyebrow as if daring Harry to protest his decision.
"Alright Minister. I'll do my best. I just hope she'll take me."
"Oh she will. That girl loves you as much as you love her. Now come on lets get out of here."
Without saying anything else Harry and Kingsley left the control room heading towards the Portkey zone. If they'd stayed a few seconds longer maybe they would have seen the map of Diagon Alley and how Ernie MacMillian's dot had blinked out of existence than reappeared two minutes later. Then they would also have seen Ernie's dot attack Tom's dot and Tom's dot also blink out of existence.
Perhaps if they'd stayed they would have seen that. Unfortunately for the Wizarding world, they didn't.
***
Stanley Romano was a level one Obliviator with the Ministries Obliviator squads. That meant he was stuck with covering up low levels of magic. Usually accidental magic performed by young children, and sometimes magic performed outside of school by the more rebellious students. He'd recently taken up an addiction to coffee, something that hadn't gained much popularity in the Wizarding world yet.
So each morning before heading to work Stanley would apparate into a deserted alleyway and walk to the closest Starbucks. After that he would take his morning coffee and head for the Ministries Visitor entrance. His morning routine had never once been disturbed. This morning however was to be quite different.
When Stanley reached the end of the alleyway he stopped in surprise. The coffee shop he usually went to was a disaster. The front windows were smashed and a sizeable amount of blood pooled on the ground or formed horrid drags marks. Inside the shop was mostly destroyed, all the tables and chairs were flipped over and the walls had various blood spray patterns across them.
Outside a car was parked haphazardly on the curb The drivers side window was smashed and a long line of blood ran down the outside of the door to drip into an already formed pool underneath the car. The passenger side door of the car was hanging open as if the former occupant had made a quick escape and not even bothered closing the door behind them.
Stanley took in the scene in growing horror and began to wonder where the muggle authorities were. Surely this would warrant a large amount of them to be here. Just as Stanley was turning to go for help movement inside the coffee shop caught his eye.
A young brunette woman wearing the coffee shops apron stumbled out of the shop. Blood was dripping from her hands and her face was masked by her long hair. Stanley caught the name written on her name tag, 'Melissa'. She seemed to be groaning and shifted uneasily from side to side.
Cautiously Stanley approached the young woman, one hand gingerly fingering his wand. "Excuse me, miss? Are you alright? Do you know what happened here?"
The woman tensed and then as Stanley finished speaking her head snapped up and Stanley recoiled in horror. Her face was mostly gone. The nose, cheeks, and lips appeared to have been chewed off. Only one eye seemed to be working properly and it was dilated so much it was almost entirely black. She looked at Stanley for a second and then let out a blood chilling moan. She shambled towards him at an average pace, reaching out desperately to grab him. There was a good twelve feet of distance between them but she moved at a good speed.
Stanley wasn't sure what to do and took a step forward moving to help her. "Don't worry I'll get you some help. Let me just look at those wounds for a second."
Stanley moved to grab her shoulder and was surprised at just how cold and pale she truly was. His momentary distraction would ultimately prove his downfall though. Melissa dove forward and bit deeply into Stanley's arm.
"Argh!" Stanley pushed the woman away, but she moaned again and moved to bite him once again. Stanley back-peddled away from the woman and drew his wand. "Stupefy!" The spell hit the woman in the center of the chest and Stanley watched in shock as she continued towards him unfazed.
"Stupefy!" Once again there was no affect the woman was closer now. "Stupefy!" The woman was nearly on top of him now and in horror he realized he'd been backed into a corner. "Reducto!" The move was out of pure desperation, but it did the trick.
The bludgeoning hex hit the woman in the center of her forehead. Her head snapped backwards and Stanley could make out the clear indentation the hex had left when it smashed what was left of her face in. The woman stood for a second not moving then as if in slow motion fell like a puppet that had it's strings cut. Stanley watched the scene in muted horror for a moment before the bite on his arm throbbed reminding him that he'd been bitten.
"Son of a bitch!" Without much more of a thought Stanley spun on the spot and apparated to St. Mungo's.
***
Harry arrived back at the auror office the next morning to find nothing short of chaos waiting for him. Memos shot through the air from one cubicle to another. Junior aurors rushed through the maze of cubicles clutching files and maps looking worriedly at each other as they passed. Harry could never remember seeing the office this hectic before and quickly looked to where he and Ron shared adjoining cubicles.
Ron was standing in his cubicle discussing something with on of the junior aurors as he gathered his cloak and various field items. As Harry approached Ron exited the cubicle with the junior auror following him.
"Harry nice of you to join us mate." Ron joked slapping Harry on the back as he passed. "Smith and I have to go check out a disturbance at the Leaky Cauldron. Dawlish wants to see you in his office." Harry nodded as he continued past the junior auror towards Dawlish's office.
After Kingsley was made Minister, he had quickly replaced all of Voldemort's puppets. John Dawlish was named Head of Magical Law Enforcement and had held the position for five years since Voldemort's defeat. His office was located behind all the regular auror cubicles, the windows that normally looked out from the office were covered but Harry could make out three or four figures moving behind the shades.
Knocking cautiously Harry was given permission to enter the office. Inside Dawlish, Kingsley, and Arthur Weasley were gathered around a large map of England. They all looked up as he entered and Kingsley waved him over. Approaching the map Harry quickly took in the large red circles drawn around certain cities.
"Minister, John, Arthur." Harry greeted the three men give his surrogate father a wide smile.
"Harry, good to have you here. Things aren't looking good." Kingsley said as he made room for Harry to look at the map with him. Harry looked questioningly at the three men.
"There has been some sort of outbreak in the muggle world." Dawlish began. "It's some sort of Inferi curse. A muggle dies, but within minutes his corpse reanimates and begins savagely attacking those closest to it."
Harry's eyes widened in shock as he turned his attention to the map. It showed enlarged areas of most major cities and had red dots marked almost all over it. "What do all these dots and circles mean?"
"The circles are entire areas of the cities that have been overrun by the Inferi. The red dots are known sighting of the undead. This thing is spreading quickly. The muggles are doing their best, but it appears a single bite is infectious." Kingsley said as he pointed at the individual dots.
"I've been carefully watching the muggle fellyvisions. The authorities warn that if you have to engage one of the inferi only a direct and forceful blow to the head will stop them." Arthur said.
Harry nodded absently as he analyzed the red circles. "Minister, these circles show that all of muggle London outside of both the Leaky Cauldron, and the Ministries Visitor entrance have been overrun."
Kingsley nodded gravely. "None of them have managed to get through the Visitors Entrance yet, and I've stationed guards in front of it. They're ordered to stun anything that comes through the entrance." He paused here and shared a grave look with the other two. "The Leaky Cauldron has already been overrun."
Harry looked up sharply at this proclamation. "But Ron just told me he was on his way there to check out a disturbance."
Kingsley nodded gravely. "He's leading a team of aurors in an attempt to push the inferi back and retake the Cauldron. So far they haven't been able to make it through the wall and into Diagon Alley. Ron has orders to destroy as many of the inferi as he can, and if he's unable to retake the Cauldron then he should fall back to the alley and begin blockading the entrance."
"Permission to join his team sir." Harry said looking pleadingly to Kingsley.
"Sorry Harry but we need you here." Kingsley said placing a hand on Harry's shoulder. "We need the Ark operational by the end of the day. I want to begin evacuating as many civilians there as soon as I can. We need a safe place to hold refugees until this problem can be resolved."
Harry ran through the plan in his head quickly and realized he was the only one with enough experience in the Ark project to get it up in time. "Do you really think things with collapse that rapidly?"
Dawlish, Arthur, and Kingsley all shared a look before Kingsley finally spoke. "Harry most of what you see here happened to the muggle world in less than two weeks. Most of their government has been wiped out. Currently there are two people trying to lead muggle Britain. A member of parliament and the highest ranking general still alive."
Harry's mouth had fallen open at some point and he looked around in shock. "W-What about America, France, Spain, everyone else?"
Arthur shook his head slowly. "As far as we can tell this has spread everywhere. Some governments are having an easier time containing it, but none are able to help the rest of the world. Reports indicate that the Americans have managed to keep the infection contained west of the Appalachian mountain range. The reports aren't good though. Contact with most island nations and a lot of the middle east has been lost. Things are bad."
Harry looked back to the maps and seemed to be lost within himself for a second. Then he blinked once and looked up meeting Kingsley's eyes. "I'll have the Ark ready by sundown sir. I'll begin sending more portkeys as they're made."
"I'd expect nothing less Harry. Get to work, we'll be doing all we can to keep this threat back for now." Kingsley said in dismissal as he turned back to the maps.
Harry nodded briefly to Arthur and Dawlish before grabbing the portkey in his pocket and disappearing.
***
Ron had just arrived at magical wall separating Diagon alley from the back of the Leaky Cauldron. He looked at the ten aurors who had been sent with him. Half of them were rookies fresh from the academy. Dealing with inferi should not be one of their first assignments, but the auror force was still depleted from the war with Voldemort and stretched thin due to this new threat. He only hoped they were up for the challenge.
"Alright everyone be ready. Watch your partners backs, and be careful. We'll be facing inferi in an enclosed space. Normally I'd advise flame spells but the risk of setting the building on fire is too great. Blasting and cutting curses only, aim for the head." He received several nods from the men and women with him and turned towards the wall.
A few seconds later the wall was opening into the very familiar archway leading to the dingy alley behind the Leaky Cauldron. Before the wall had even opened fully two inferi had staggered through the opening making for the closest auror. It happened to be a nervous rookie who was paralyzed with shock at the sight before him. One of the inferi was missing its jaw and had blood still dripping it's ruined mouth. The second was a woman who had a large chunk missing from her neck and her bloodied shirt was ripped to shreds.
Just as the first inferi was about to grab the rookie a blasting curse smashed into its head knocking it sideways into the wall. The second inferi was destroyed in a hail of curses and hexes from the remaining aurors. The rookie shakily looked over to Ron who was still carefully watching the first inferi. Finally confident in it's death he looked to the rookie.
"Smith if you are not up to this I would suggest you stay here and cover the rear. We can't afford to have you freezing up like that in there!" Ron said sharply as he gestured towards the Leaky Cauldron.
"I'm fine sir!" Smith said, though he still glanced nervously at the looming entrance to the Leaky Cauldron.
"Alright people lets move. Jackson, Harper you have the lead." Ron said as his unit fell into formation cautiously advancing on the doorway.
As the first two entered the darkened pub, nothing immediately jumped out at them. It took a moment for their eyes to adjust to the darkness. The pub had been thoroughly destroyed. Chair and tables were flipped over and smashed, while glass from the bars supply of drinking glasses and alcohol crunched under their feet as they advanced into the bar. As they advanced the men and women did just as they were supposed to and cleared corners and covered each others backs. Too bad none of them thought to look up.
Smith who had been the last in the cautious procession had just stepped into the bar when the first moan echoed out. In the darkness only a few saw the black shadow leaping from the stairway landing. None of them missed the tortured scream as one of the undead sunk it's teeth into Harper's cheek, ripping free a large chunk of her jaw.
It was then that all hell broke loose. As all of the aurors in the bar turned to their fallen teammate, the rest of the inferi struck. Coming from darkened corners and staggering down the stairs the distracted aurors were easily overwhelmed. As scream punctuated the air a horrified Smith had no time to react as an Inferi tackled him to the ground, slamming the door shut in the process. The bar was once again thrown into perpetual darkness.
***
Harry arrived at the Ark and shot a spell at the nearest wall activating the electric circuits throughout the Ark. Before Harry had even completed the two minute walk to the control room all of the systems within the Ark were online and awaiting commands. As Harry entered the command center he pulled a thin pocket mirror out.
"Ginny," He whispered quietly into the mirror, waiting patiently for it to activate.
A few seconds later, a pair of deep brown eyes appeared, though slightly frustrated looking. "What do you want Harry?" Ginny's voice was tense and she was obviously not thrilled to be hearing from Harry through a two way mirror.
"Gin, please listen to me." Harry paused a ran a hand through his hair. "Something's happening. I'm not allowed to say exactly what, but I need to make sure your safe." Ginny's eyes lost some of the coldness they'd held and softened slightly.
"What are you talking about Harry?"
"There's an emergency, and it's not just affecting the magical world. It started in the muggle world, and it's spreading into the magical world slowly. Where are you?" Ginny's eyes had lost all of their hardness and were now filled with worry.
"I'm at Gringotts. I'm dropping off George's weekly deposit." Ginny answered glancing around her surroundings. Suddenly her eyes paused on something not in Harry's field of view.
"Ginny what is it?"
"A man just walked in, he's covered in blood. I think he's injured. Harry I have to go-"
"No!" Harry interrupted her his eyes frantic as he saw her small frame begin to move. "Ginny stay away from him! He's most likely one of them!"
Ginny stopped and looked back into the mirror in confusion. "Harry what are you talk-" She was interrupted by a piercing scream. "Oh my god, he's biting her!" Harry saw her pull her wand out and then the mirror was blur of motion as it appeared Ginny had begun running.
"Ginny! No!" Suddenly the view in the camera slowed it's movements and for a brief second Harry saw a man covered in blood with his teeth sunk deeply into the arm of a screaming woman. Then the image was gone and Harry suddenly had a view of four goblins in full battle armor rushing the duo.
"Stupefy!" Ginny's voice pierced through the screams of the woman, but Harry could tell from the unearthly groans that the spell had done little to stop him. Then above all the screaming and moaning there was a bloodthirsty battle cry. A second later the moaning stopped.
"H-Harry, they killed him. The goblins killed him!" Ginny still hadn't brought the mirror to any form of visible angle, so Harry could only see a rather boring view of the floor.
"I know Gin, I know. But I need you to listen to me. Do you still have the necklace I gave you for Christmas?" Harry gave a relieved smile as the view of the mirror swung back up to a nodding Ginny. "Good, I need you to say the words 'Take me to the Ark.'" Ginny nodded slowly and he saw her hand flash across his view as she brought it up to her neck.
"Take me to the Ark." In the process of being port keyed it looked like Ginny dropped the mirror. It landed on something and remained propped up, so that Harry caught a brief glimpse of three Goblin warriors standing over a decapitated body, and a bleeding woman, before the image faded.
***
Ron smashed his fist into the face of one inferi, as two more advanced towards him. It took him a second to realize that one of them was Harper. Her eyes had taken on the glazed look of the inferi and her face had two large bite marks on it. At one point during the fray someone had cast an incendiary spell, and the bar was quickly catching fire. The shattered wooden tables and chairs, doused in alcohol only accelerated the process.
"Retreat!" Ron's voice roared through the burning bar and he took a quick glance around looking for other survivors. He heard one or two pops that he hoped were his people disapparating, but he couldn't be sure with the noise of the fire. "Retreat!" Ron yelled once more before himself disapparating out of the bar.
Ron reappeared at the prearranged fall back point, fifty yards into Diagon Alley. He landed hard as his ankle gave out beneath him. Once he'd managed to pick himself up he looked around to see how many had survived the attack. His heart sunk as only three others began shakily pulling themselves up off the ground. Danson, was nursing a bite on his hand, while the other two Jackson and Stengel seemed relatively unhurt. It was still horrifying that of the original ten aurors sent with him, only three were left standing.
Ron had barely returned to his feet when a bloody hand grabbed his shoulder from behind and started to spin him around. "Please help us!" The hand belonged to a young woman who had a serious bite wound on her arm, behind her were about a dozen more people. "These creatures just started coming out of Knockturn Alley! Please you have to help us!"
Ron could see several of the Inferi moving around throughout the Alley. A majority of them were heading towards Ron and his Aurors. He noticed a few trying to Approach WWW but being held back by the constant fire of spells coming from the store. Ron realized he needed to make a quick decision.
"Danson, Stengel help these people to St. Mungo's. Jackson you're with me we're going to rescue as many people as we can." Ron looked at his remaining forces as they nodded and he and Jackson took off down the alley.
***
Harry flicked a final switched and watched with pride as the last of the monitors hummed to life. Menu's and startup screens appeared on each monitor and Harry moved to the master console in the center of the room. While setting this place up he'd learned how to type quickly and with amazing speed began typing in commands and bringing maps up on different monitors. It was around this time that Ginny walked in her eyes wide as she took in the room around her.
"Harry what is this place?" Ginny said in amazement as she walked towards one of the computer consoles and watched the dots moving around on the screen.
"This is the Ark. It's the Ministry's fall back point in case of an emergency." Harry said as he moved from terminal to terminal attempting to tune the detection charms into the inferi's life signs, or non-life signs as the case may be.
Harry had entered a series of commands into one computer and was on his way to another when Ginny grabbed his arm turning him to face her. "Harry, what's going on? What was that thing at Gringotts? Where is everyone?"
Harry could clearly see the fear and confusion in Ginny's eyes and knew he had to say something. "Ginny, there's some sort of disease that's spreading. It turns people into inferi. We only just found out about it, but it appears the muggles have been dealing with it for a while. I'm setting up the Ark in preparation for any refugees that need shelter form this thing. All other Ministry personnel are doing whatever they can to keep the inferi from our population centers… Judging by your experience in Gringotts, it would appear they're failing."
Ginny stood motionless in front of him for a moment before a hard look entered her eyes. It was the same look she'd had before going into battle against Death Eaters. "What do you need me to do Harry?"
"Use this terminal to check the Ministry, Diagon Alley, and St. Mungo's. Tell me if anything looks odd, and if anyone's dot is behaving erratically." Harry said pointing to a nearby console. Ginny took the seat and slowly began clicking through different maps.
Harry returned to work, he believed he was close to figuring out how to display the inferi on the maps. Three minutes after leaving her at the console, Harry glanced over at Ginny to see her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. He took a few seconds to drink in her features. Even with the confused expression on her face, she was still the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen.
"Everything alright Ginny." Harry asked curiously.
Ginny jerked in surprise, and looked up at Harry. "Oh, well, there's something weird going on at the Ministry." Ginny said cautiously, glancing back at the screen. "There's no one there except Kingsley, and Percy. They're both in one of the offices near Kingsley's office."
Harry walked over and leaned down to look over Ginny's shoulder. The scent of flowers and cinnamon immediately assaulted his senses, but he pushed it aside to watch the screen. As Ginny had said there was no one left in the Ministry except Kingsley and Percy. Even at full alert like this, there was no reason for only two people to be left at the Ministry.
Harry reached for his mirror, which was like the wizarding worlds version of a cell phone. Before his hand had even began to pull it out of his pocket two new dots appeared in the atrium. An S. Lockjaw, and A. Johnson popped onto the screen. Both dot's began running in separate directions, but Lockjaw's dot soon slowed and stopped moving. A moment later it blinked off. A. Johnson, which Harry figured was Angelina Johnson, made it to the elevator's where it rode downwards towards the auror and ministry officials offices. She got off there and her dot slowly started moving away from the elevators. To Harry's trained eye it was obvious she was checking her corners and watching for attackers.
"The Ministry's been overrun." Harry whispered quietly as he pulled his mirror out and looked sadly at it. "Kingsley Shacklebolt." Harry spoke softly to the mirror.
It took a few minutes but Kingsley's face eventually appeared in the mirror. He had a cut on his forehead and blood was running down his face. Harry caught a glimpse of red hair in the background and could only guess that it was Percy. "Minister, I'm looking at the maps of the Ministry. Are you alright?"
Kingsley smirked and looked around him, before turning his attention back to the mirror. "No Harry. We've been overrun. Some aurors who'd been injured early this morning had their wounds healed and returned to active duty. Healing the wound does not cure the disease Potter. They died after about an hour of being here." An unearthly moan echoed from behind Kingsley and Harry heard a dull thud.
"Percy and I are trapped in one of the offices. Don't send help. We're surrounded by about three dozen of these bastards. We'll hold out as long as we can but I need you to get word out that the Ministry is no longer safe." Something shattered behind Kingsley, and Harry heard Percy shout a curse and one of the inferi groan loudly.
"Kingsley, use your portkeys, come to the Ark!" Harry could hear Percy still yelling curses and Kingsley had now turned and was throwing curses. He brought his mirror up to look at Harry. "I already sent my portkey with two secretaries. I had to sedate them because they were hysterical. They should be by one of the entrances. I was hit Harry, Percy and I don't have much longer they're breaking through!" Kingsley turned to throw more curses at an enemy Harry couldn't see and a shout of pain from Percy was heard above everything else.
"Percy!!" Ginny screamed from next to Harry desperately looking in the mirror for any sign of her brother. Harry could still make out Percy's voice shouting out spells, but couldn't see him.
"Potter!" Kingsley's voice broke through the background noise and the mirror turned to show Kingsley's face once again. "You're in charge. Save as many people as you can! I'm bringing down the wards."
The view in the mirror began spinning and finally stopped with a view of the ceiling. Harry knew what Kingsley was planning, and also that he'd need both hands. "Ginny there's spare mirrors in that drawer. Get one and call Angelina." Ginny paused momentarily still watching the mirror for any sign of her brother. "Now Gin!"
Ginny's head snapped up and she fished a mirror out of the drawer in the blink of an eye. "Angelina Johnson!" Ginny practically shouted at her mirror. Harry could hear Kingsley starting the chant that would take down all the wards supporting the Ministry. Without these wards the structure would collapse in on itself burying anyone inside.
"Ginny?" Angelina's voice hissed from her mirror. Harry grabbed the mirror from Ginny and looked at the confused face of Angelina Johnson.
"Angelina, Kingsley is about to bring down the wards on the Ministry. When that happens the entire place will come down around you. You'll have only a few seconds after the wards come down before everything collapses. You need to apparate out then. Go to the Burrow. We'll meet you there." Harry only waited long enough for Angelina to give him a confirmation before turning back to his mirror.
The roof of the office flashed different colors from spell fire. With each flash Harry could see shadows cross his view. Some looked like bodies, other's were too disfigured to discern what they were. Harry could still hear Kingsley chanting, but the spell fire from Percy was slowing down and after two or three minutes the spell rate had slipped to one every five seconds or so. It wasn't long after that, that Percy screamed loudly and blood spatter splashed across the ceiling.
Harry glanced up at the map of the Ministry and could only shake his head sadly as Percy's dot blinked out of existence. Kingsley's had stopped chanting and Harry watched as bit's and pieces of the ceiling started to crack and collapse downwards. A moment later a hung chunk of the ceiling fell down smashing the mirror.
"Percy…" Ginny's voice was choked with tears and she reached for the mirror in Harry's hands. Harry pulled her into a tight hug as the tears she'd been holding back began pouring out. Her body shook as she sobbed into Harry's shoulder.
"I'm sorry Ginny. He- He died a hero." Even to Harry the words sounded shallow and meaningless. He knew they wouldn't help, but he need to say something. He needed Ginny to be able to function right now. "Ginny, I need you. You can't break down now. Once this is over we can all mourn, but I need you're help right now Ginny. Please…"
It took a few more seconds but slowly Ginny's tears slowed and she conjured a box of tissues. After she'd blown her nose a few times she turned to Harry and nodded. "I'm ready Harry. What do you need me to do?"
"Get back on the computer, check St. Mungo's and Diagon Alley. Then check the Burrow. If it looks safe, start using your mirror to send people there. Once I get the computers to detect inferi, I'll start portkeying people in from there." Ginny nodded and returned to the computer she'd been using.
Harry turned back to the other computers and began entering commands into each computer while casting various spells at others.
***
Ron vaulted over one of the barricades blocking the entrance to Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes and landed next to George. A few feet down Jackson dove through a shattered window sliding to a stop next to a very pale Verity. George slapped a hand on his brothers shoulder before popping his head over the table and throwing some spells into the crowd of inferi.
"Nice of you to join us little Ronniekins." George teased playfully before throwing a potion into the crowd that turned several inferi into slugs.
"Not like it's the first time I'm rescuing you from certain doom Forge." Ron answered back throwing a blasting hex at the head of one of the approaching inferi.
Ron and Jackson had only barely survived their mad dash around the crowd of inferi and into WWW. The inferi were coming from almost every direction now, and Ron knew if he didn't convince his brother to abandon the store soon they'd all be overrun.
"George we need to go. There's inferi everywhere. We can't stay here. You've done a great job, but we need to go now." Ron pleaded with George who looked ready to defend his shop, the shop he and Fred had built together, to his death.
George looked from his pleading brother to the growing crowd of inferi at his doorstep. He'd mostly been using some of the more dangerous products the store offered to keep the inferi at bay, but his supplies were nearly depleted and once he was out he knew he wouldn't be able to keep them at bay for long. Sadly he nodded to Ron and picked up the last of his products throwing them all into the crowd at once. The result was a light show of colors and smoke.
"Alright Ron lets go. Verity come on we're leaving!" George shouted to his assistant who smiled in relief.
"Oh thank Merlin, I thought I was going to die here." She said accepting the hand George had offered her.
"We'll meet you at the Burrow Ron." George said.
"Alright, Jackson and I have to report to St. Mungo's first I'll meet you there."
"What about other survivors?" Jackson asked glancing out the window towards the crowd of momentarily confused inferi.
"We'll need reinforcements to fight back that crowd of inferi. We'll see what we can round up then come back as soon as we can." Ron said. Jackson nodded and disappeared with a pop.
"At least this place will go out with a bang." George said with a laugh. He shot a fire spell to a fuse on the ground that disappeared into the back room. "I'd suggest leaving now Ronniekins." George said as he and Verity disappeared with a pop.
Ron wasted no time in following their example and apparating away. A few moments later the front of Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes exploded and thousands of fireworks shout out. The inferi closest to the front of the building were ripped apart by what had once been the front of the store, and some of the fireworks acted like missiles zeroing in on the remaining inferi and exploding on them.
By the time the entire light show was finished only a handful of inferi were still standing. It was only seconds before many of the ones on the ground began to shakily get back to their feet, most only missing an arm or sporting large holes in their chests.
***
Ron appeared in the lobby of St. Mungo's hospital. Instead of being met by the sparkling white halls and tired looking secretary, he was instead met with the sight of Jackson being tackled to the ground by at least five inferi and even more emerging from nearby blood coated hallways. The secretary who had been a mainstay of the St. Mungo's lobby for years stumbled towards Ron a large chunk of her neck missing and her uniform stained red from the blood.
Bodies littered the floor, and Ron could hear the screams of people still trapped deep within the confines of the hospital. One inferi stumbled through the door. The man had obviously been a patient as his arm was transfigured into a large crab claw. He swung it in Ron's direction only to smash it through a nearby wall.
Ron stumbled backwards, none of his training had prepared him for the horror he saw before him. Jackson had disappeared under a pile of inferi and Ron could still see one of his feet jerking erratically.
"Dear God…"
***
"I've almost got it!" Harry shouted triumphantly as he cast a tracing spell at one computer while typing commands into another. "Alright this should be it." Harry said as he hit the enter key.
He and Ginny looked up at the large map of the world that now dominated the main screen. It only had a few thousand black dots representing magical beings. Something Harry had noticed dropping dramatically over the last two hours. It took a few seconds but slowly red dots began to appear on the screen, starting around London and spreading from there.
The dots continued appearing for almost five minutes. By the end Harry and Ginny were both pale and Ginny was leaning on Harry for support. The entire map was covered in millions of red dots moving around. Only some of the most remote areas on the planet were clear of the red dots, but anywhere there was a population center, red dots representing inferi were piled thick on top of one another.
"Please tell me you did something wrong Harry." Ginny asked halfheartedly from next to him.
"I double checked my calculations three times. That map is right…"
"How could we possibly beat all of them?" Ginny asked.
"I-I don't know…" Harry continued scanning the map trying to figure out how this could have spread so quickly.
It was right around then that an entire area of the dots blinked out of existence. A second later another disappeared, then another. It continued for almost twenty seconds. When it stopped, there were still millions of dots, but now there were large holes pockmarked throughout the map.
"Harry what happened?"
"I-I don't know." Harry sat down and began looking at the maps scanning the areas that had just been cleared of inferi. He'd barely sat down when the entire installation began to shake violently. The lights flickered and things fell from some of the shelves. When Harry looked up all the red dots around London had disappeared.
"Harry what just happened?" Ginny asked shakily as she looked at the spot on the map where London was now clearly visible.
The truth was slowly dawning on Harry and he couldn't quite believe it.
"The muggles are nuking them…"
A/N Sorry that i could only get one part out today.
In the last month i have quite literally only been home to sleep. I hope i can get the second part out by sometime next week, hopefully around election day.
For those of you wondering where Hermione is, she'll show up in the next chapter for a little bit. As for The Other Child, i'm working on the next chapter when i can, but as i said i'm hardly home except to sleep, and a few times i just camped out at friends houses. Hope you like my little Holiday blood shed.