Chapter 9 – The First Duel
"There it is," Harry said. He and Hermione had been forced to apparate repeatedly, each time getting closer to the hidden camp where the Ministry was holding its overflow of interred persons.
Now, rather than apparate any closer, Harry and Hermione transformed into their seldom used bird transfigurations to sneak up on the encampment as inconspicuously as possible.
"We still need to be careful. The Ministry may be on the lookout for us in these forms now that our secret is out," Hermione said. It had been revealed during their "trial" that the Ministry had before witnessed them using their animagus forms.
Fortunately, however, it was dark and cloudy enough that two birds flying high in the sky wouldn't be very noticeable, even to someone wearing a vision enhancing eyepiece. They would have to be unlucky indeed to be discovered at this early stage of their infiltration.
The young couple's plan was to blend in with the multitude of prisoners, which from the size of the camp looked to number several dozen at least, to try to gather some information on the size and type of transportation inhibition fields that were in place. The camp was situated in the middle of an artificial clearing which seemed to be patrolled by at least a score of figures that were presumably magical law enforcement officials or perhaps aurors.
No one took notice of the two large birds of prey that landed in the camp on top of one of the makeshift huts that had clearly been constructed with hasty magic out of nearby trees. A lazy dirt road ran down through the center of the encampment in such a way that would lead an observant eye to believe that it had been frequented mostly by creatures other than muggles.
"We're not going to fit in here," Harry said as he observed a few prisoners milling about for some reason. They were all wearing tattered grey uniforms with a misshapen "X" symbol on the back.
"Then we'll just have to blend in a little more than we originally planned," Hermione replied. Unnoticed by anyone below the two great birds perched on the hut began to emit a slight reddish glow from a point around their feathery necks. Their forms darkened until they melted away entirely into shadow and slipped down toward the ground. In the growing night no one saw two strangely moving shadows as they slipped about the camp before finally disappearing into one of the small structures housing the prisoners.
"Something is coming," McGonagall said weakly. Even though they had only been captured for what amounted to a few hours they had suffered terribly. Though their wands had been taken, Remus and McGonagall were full fledged mages who were still potentially dangerous. To prevent escape their captors had shattered all the bones in their arms and legs. The broken bones served not only to incapacitate, but also to cloud the minds of the afflicted with too much pain to formulate any plans of resistance.
"I don't sense anything," Remus replied with a scratchy voice. Then again, Remus knew that McGonagall was much stronger and more knowledgeable than he.
"They wouldn't return at this hour," Jack added. A former muggle, Jack Ackart had been turned into a werewolf at the order of Voldemort. His days in the magical world had been mostly harsh, filled with fear and enslavement, which was punctuated by a brief period of hope when the Ministry appeared to extend his kind a helping hand at the end of the war. Those hopes had been dashed as the Ministry turned on the werewolves, rounding them up and sending them to camps such as the one Jack currently found himself in.
"Get out of here Jack, there's nothing you can do," McGonagall said as the floor turned black. Two human like shapes swirled up out of the unnatural shadow and took form with two tiny red lights, like distant fiery stars, shining just below their neckline.
"Impossible," Remus said breathlessly as the shadows solidified into Harry and Hermione.
"The All Seeing Star," McGonagall said when she saw the small symbol emblazoned on the front of their outfits.
"Harry and Hermione Potter," Jack said, instantly recognizing the faces of the two people his enslaver, Voldemort, had most wanted dead. He had been fortunate enough never to meet them in battle directly, but he had known some who had and barely survived to tell of it.
"You shouldn't have come here," Remus wheezed. "There's no way you can get us out of here and these wounds are cursed."
"You really should have paid more attention in magical history Remus," McGonagall said with a slight laugh. "Or at the very least you should recognize what "impossible" means in this situation."
"What are you two talking about?" Jack asked, somewhat overwhelmed by McGonagall's bad habit of being cryptic with her information coupled with the Potter's unexpected appearance.
"This," Harry said as he materialized a cup in his hand and filled it with Elixir from the stone around his neck. He took it and helped Remus drink the miracle healing substance. Hermione did likewise with McGonagall and the results began to take effect almost immediately. Bones remembered their original positions as they melded back together to the way they were before they had been broken.
"Amazing," Jack said, awed by the rapid repair of wounds that McGonagall had earlier told him were all but irreparable.
"The power of the Elixir of Life," McGonagall said as she sat up. "I recognize that sun symbol as the All Seeing Star, a symbol of alchemy's greatest power, the Philosopher Stone."
"I shouldn't be surprised," Remus said. He too was sitting up and stretching his limbs. "But I still am. How in the world did you manage to create two Philosopher Stones so quickly?"
"Professor Dumbledore entrusted us with Flamel's old journal," Hermione explained. "Plus, we had already conducted a fair bit of research on our own."
"More importantly, what is the situation exactly?" Harry asked. They needed to know what was going on as much as possible before commencing with the break out. "We've been trying to piece together an accurate picture of what the Ministry is doing ever since we were rescued."
"Most of us were picked up off of the streets just a few hours ago," Jack replied. "There are only two other wizards here, the rest of us were once ordinary muggles before we were captured by Voldemort and turned into werewolf soldiers."
Harry was a little surprised to hear Voldemort's name spoken so casually, but then again this man was a muggle who hadn't grown up with the taboo of that name permeating his surroundings. The world of muggles was filled with tyrants, both historical and current, so to him Voldemort was just another dictator using people for his own means.
Harry conjured chairs for himself and Hermione so that they could sit while Jack began his story. The muggle werewolf looked slightly put off when a dozen snakes erupted out of Harry's robes and took orders in snake language to stand guard, but his attention refocused once they had left the hut.
Approximately three hours after Harry and Hermione had been seized from the Granger home…
Jack Ackart trudged down the store lined street of Diagon Alley looking for any job that would employ a werewolf. As a muggle he had been a promising student at the top of his engineering class, but now he knew that he wouldn't be content or equipped to ever return to that world. Of course, he hadn't even been a target of Voldemort's "recruitment" plan, but had happened upon an attack against a homeless man in a downtown alleyway. He thought it was a mugging and had attempted to help. No good deed goes unpunished.
He had already struck out once this morning and the other position he was eyeing was in a store that wouldn't open until noon for some reason, probably because its owner was lazy or eccentric. So many wizards had unreasonable personalities. Jack took a seat on one of the sparse benches that dotted the alley and shuddered involuntarily at his proximity to Knockturn Alley. Unlike most denizens of the magical world he was a completely helpless muggle for most of the month and unable to protect himself in the slightest from unsavory persons. All he enjoyed in his human form was some heightened wolf-like senses. Of course, even when he transformed he was still weaker than most magical creatures.
Without warning his wolf-like senses that were suddenly telling him that a rather foul presence was approaching his location. Jack turned slightly, imperceptibly, and watched as four tall dark figures in Ministry robes entered the street abruptly. They had pale handsome faces and tall thin bodies, but some extra sensory feeling told Jack that they were not at all as they appeared to be. He had a distinct feeling of them that was at the same time both similar and different from the feeling he had gotten whenever he had glimpsed Voldemort or his avatars. These people felt cursed and dead, plus they smelled faintly of soil.
He watched with trepidation as they began a sweep beginning at the point where they entered the alley and began moving toward his position. Along the way they stopped and questioned each individual that they met. Despite the Ministry symbol prominently displayed Jack could tell that these agents were somehow different from the ones he was used to dealing with. Their black robes were lined with silver runes and from what he could tell they carried no wands or other weapons.
"Good day sir, as you can see we're with the Ministry in charge of Alley Security," one of the agents said. "All we need is your name, purpose, and any Ministry documents you might have been issued."
"Jack Ackart, looking for a job," Jack replied as he dug around for the papers he'd been issued as a muggle werewolf to entitle him to Ministry aid and other dispensations.
"Blimey, it's a bloody werewolf," a second agent with a thick Australian accent said as soon as Jack handed his papers over. The other agents moved their hands inside cloaks and removed strange looking weapons. Two of them had what appeared to be swords while the others had bows.
"I'm afraid you're going to have to come with us sir," the first agent said. Pale hands reached out and seized Jack by the shoulders, wresting him to his feet.
"I didn't try to fight or protest," Jack said as he brought the recounting of his de facto arrest to a close. "Even if I didn't see a wand the Ministry's enforcers are too strong for a muggle to fight."
"What do you think they were, if not wizards?" Hermione asked, curious at Jack making a point to mention that they didn't carry wands, but instead some other kind of weird weapons that normal members of the magical world would never carry.
"Well, I don't know, but some of the other people here seemed to think that they are vampires," Jack replied.
"How could they be vampires?" Harry asked. "Sunlight is supposed to bother them, right?"
"I can't say about such things," Jack said. Hermione stood up and walked over to the wall of the hut to think while Harry continued asking questions. "Several people have reported hearing strange accents from them though."
"So, basically the Ministry has enlisted the aid of a bunch of people, probably made up of foreigners, who could be vampires," Harry said.
"So it would seem," Hermione said. "But what purpose could Fudge have for rounding up all the muggle werewolves?
"Is he planning to exterminate us?" Jack asked, alarmed at the implication he perceived.
"I didn't mean that," Hermione said. "Not that I don't think Fudge is capable of anything after what he tried to do to Harry and I, but if he just wanted to kill you there's no reason to sequester you in camps first."
"Maybe he wants to perform experiments or something," Harry suggested. "He did pardon Vitter after all."
"Or maybe he just wants an army of easy to manipulate and nearly disposable warriors like You Know Who did," Remus said cynically.
"My guess is that he's planning to exile them," Hermione said. "You said that some muggle born wizards and witches are here too, right? He wouldn't mix them in with the werewolves unless he was planning to have everyone share the same fate, which seems to be less than death. Exile makes the most sense. He's planning to purge England of all the undesirables."
"Then why did he try to execute you and Harry?" Jack asked.
"We're too powerful," Harry said. "He knew that in the end we can mount serious opposition to what the Ministry desires."
"I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm about ready to leave this place," McGonagall said dryly. She loved speculation as much as the next intellectual, but there was a time and a place. "Or we could sit around guessing for the rest of the night."
"We were planning on taking everyone with us," Hermione said. "That means we need to at least see each prisoner to try and spot any Ministry plants."
"The longer we wait around here the more likely you'll be discovered though," Remus said.
"It can't be helped," Harry replied. "Besides which, the guards have no reason to venture into the compound and there's no chance that we can walk this many people across the portkey inhibitor line without being spotted. Organizing this as much as possible will make the escape go quicker and with luck we will be gone before the Ministry can respond."
"Here, take these," Hermione said, handing portkey bracelets that she conjured and imbued on the spot. "They'll automatically take you to Riddle Manor as soon as you get outside the wards."
"We're going to Riddle Manor?" Jack asked, somewhat stunned. He had never been to the dark headquarters of Voldemort, but it had a mysterious and dangerous reputation amongst the werewolves that had served the Dark Lord.
"Grimmauld Place was nearly discovered by the Ministry," Harry said. "We're not going to risk returning there for a while."
"I guess this means you didn't actually go on your honeymoon as promised?" Remus asked, smirking knowingly.
"Er, I think it counts," Hermione said, blushing slightly.
"We got to read lots of books," Harry said cheekily. "Wait for us here."
Before Remus could respond the pair melted away in some incomprehensible alchemic manipulation of their bodies and left the narrow confines of the hut.
"What do you think they're going to do?" McGonagall asked. Remus had been a closer companion to the young couple than she had since her position at Hogwarts had kept her tied down and away from them far more than the scruffy werewolf.
"Hermione has been looking for a chance to change the way the magical world works for a long time now," Remus replied. Though he was sure that she had hoped to do it persuasively over time, like with her efforts in S.P.E.W., but now that the Ministry had forced the matter her means were likely to be much different.
"What about Harry?" McGonagall asked.
"They tried to kill Hermione," Remus said simply. "Of course, he isn't happy with the state of affairs in the magical world. Neither am I for that matter."
"They shouldn't have to fight another war," McGonagall said softly.
"Even if we escape, we don't have anywhere to go!" was the protest from the small crowd of muggle werewolves that had gathered around Harry and Hermione. As they went from hut to hut the forlorn captives, though eager to have their freedom returned, were fearful that it would be an exercise in futility.
"You can come with us," Harry said. "If you want, we can keep you under what protection we can offer so long as this whole mess is unresolved."
"We're not charity cases," a tall lean looking man said. "Even if we come with you we want to help fight."
"Yeah, we've been ordered around by you wizards ever since we were kidnapped," a heavy set woman said indignantly. "We heard all kinds of things about you two from Voldemort, from other folks, and then from the Ministry. How we supposed to know you two just don't want to use us like everyone else?"
"Ah, well, we wouldn't do that," Harry said, searching for some kind of argument that might persuade them. Their skepticism of wizards was understandable though. First, they had been enslaved and turned into werewolves for Voldemort's private army. Then the Ministry had betrayed them by rounding them up for purposes unknown.
"It doesn't matter because you don't have a choice," Hermione said finally.
"Oh? Are you going to make us missy?" the heavy set woman retorted.
"I could, but it isn't necessary. Your alternative to coming with us is to stay here and wait for the Ministry to do whatever it's going to do to you," Hermione replied. "As for you mistrusting our intentions, I can't help that. Once you've come with us you can judge our actions first hand instead of trying to speculate based on all the third hand rumors you've heard from our enemies."
"Hermione's right," Harry said, drawn back down to reality. They didn't have time to attempt to pacify everyone. "So what's it going to be?"
"I want out of this place," tall and thin said. "Just keep in mind that we're done being controlled. Even if you are wizards, come the next full moon you'll have to exterminate us if you try to order us around."
"Then take these," Harry said, ignoring the threat as he conjured portkey bracelets. "Someone will come around again in a few minutes to tell you which direction to flee in while we take care of the guards."
They didn't stay behind long enough to hear the muted whispers and murmuring as they melted away back to where the others were waiting for them.
"Well, are you satisfied?" Jack asked as soon as they reappeared.
"Yeah, I think so," Harry said.
"Then what's the plan?" Remus asked.
"From what we could tell as we were flying in the easiest way out would be to follow the remnants of the old road. It seems to lead to one of the nearer edges of the portkey inhibition field." Hermione said.
"Flew?" Jack said questioningly. Remus looked at them askance for being so careless with their secret. Of course, the secret was no more.
"The Ministry found out about our animagus transformations," Harry said. "I'm sure detailed descriptions will be available in tomorrow's Prophet."
"I see," McGonagall said with annoyance.
"It can't be helped now," Harry said.
"We want to split into two groups," Hermione interjected in an attempt to keep things on track. Everyone was remarkably whimsical considering that they were planning to sneak a few dozen muggle werewolves out from under the Ministry. "Remus, why don't you take Jack with you and Professor McGonagall can take the other group. Harry and I will go first to open the way."
No one said anything, merely nodding in concurrence as they dispersed to begin the escape.
"Do you really think we can protect this many people at once?" Harry asked as he watched over the line of dark forms beginning to stream out of the huts in a race towards the border.
"I don't know," Hermione said. The problem wasn't that they anticipated quality resistance, but rather than the long line of people running through the night would be hard to cover all at once. "But, it looks like we're going to get our first chance right now."
Four grey clothed agents sporting an ungainly "X" insignia on their backs were running toward the escaping prisoners. Their progress was arrested sharply as Harry and Hermione suddenly appeared in their path.
"We would have you let them escape unhindered," Harry said lazily.
"It's the Potters," one of the grey clothes said. "Send out the alert."
Four stunners lanced out across the short distance as a second agent reached for a crystal sphere nestled in a holster on his belt. The spells impacted and to Harry's shock nothing happened. Two of the men burst into black mist and disappeared, the other two launched themselves bodily toward the off balance couple.
"They're vampires," Hermione yelled as she saw claws and fangs extend in the dim light. Her body bristled with wooden spikes unexpectedly and the four agents were impaled multiple times.
"I don't think that worked," Harry said as the four agents burst into black mist again and disappeared.
"There's something weird about them," Hermione said. The four agents reformed in a loose circle around the young couple. They produced bows seemingly out of no where and took aim with strangely colored arrows.
"Avada Kedavra," Harry yelled with surprise as the killing curse exploded behind him. He had narrowly dodged the attack when he realized what it was in midair.
"Vampires shouldn't be able to use magic like this," Hermione said. "No one should."
"They're definitely more spell resistant than they should be too," Harry said. He raked the agent nearest to him with blue tinged lightening to no effect.
"They still have some of their original weaknesses though," Hermione said. Her bright beam of white hot fire had incinerated one of the vampires in a flash. The other three, seeing the fate of the fourth, burst into mist and disappeared into the night.
"We've got to get back to the lines," Harry said. They turned around and ran back toward their charges with the help of an acceleration charm after picking up the weapons of the fallen vampire.
"We've already been discovered," Hermione said in a low voice when they reached the first group. Harry continued on to where the other group was moving parallel to their position a few dozen yards away. "Everyone needs to run even though it's a bit far you can still probably make it to the edge before your strength runs out."
"I wish you had thought to bring us wands," McGonagall replied. She twisted and shrank into her cat form so that she could run with animalistic speed. Hermione watched her give a parting meow as she leapt off into the night.
"How many more are there?" Harry asked as he watched over his line of escapees. They hadn't been disturbed any more since the vampires had abandoned them and as a result had reached the edge of the portkey interdiction field.
"I don't know, but they're here," Hermione said. Her skin crawled from the sensation of an intense magical presence descending on their position.
"It's those two that Ron told us about," Harry said. Fog had begun to roll in across the clearing in a way suspiciously convenient for the approaching siblings.
"It appears that the two of you are full of more tricks than we originally suspected," Septimus said. The leisurely stroll of their new opponents had brought them into casual conversation range with Harry and Hermione.
"Weren't you dying the last time we saw you?" Sense asked before breaking into a fit of giggling.
"Are you sure you want to be here?" Hermione retorted. "We're not asleep this time."
"It won't make any difference," Septimus said confidently. "We don't even have to capture you alive anymore."
"Kill-On-Sight," Sense said, exaggerating every word whilst still laughing. She drew a wand and waved it aimlessly. The ground next to Remus' line of escapees exploded violently throwing several of them to the ground. She waved it again, but this time Harry had interposed himself between her and her intended targets. The spells evaporated easily under the effects of the Sorcerer's Stone.
Septimus' eyes narrowed as he waved his own wand and sent a flurry of spells toward Hermione. A wall of fire engulfed the spells and descended on Septimus' position, forcing him back.
"Interesting," Septimus said. Sense deftly evaded or blocked several probing bolts of magical energy from Harry and rejoined her brother's side. "You're not using wands are you?"
"If you realize that much then you know what the outcome will be," Hermione said.
Sense broke out laughing again and even Septimus chuckled. Harry clenched his fist anxiously at their carefree attitude.
"You really don't have any idea who we are do you?" Septimus said, his voice belying his amusement.
"Your names are Artemis right?" Harry said. "Brother and sister?"
"You really don't have any idea do you little boy?" Sense said, grinning wickedly. "Shall we show them Septimus?"
"Of course Sense," Septimus replied.
"They're putting their wands away," Harry said. Instantly a bone jarring spell flattened the entire area around which Harry and Hermione were standing. The two of them were barely able to exude enough magical energy to remain standing and unharmed.
"What kind of trick is this?" Hermione yelled. No one should be able to match their power.
"You're obviously overconfident in your alchemy imitation," Septimus said. He waved his hand slightly, but the force of the magical blow that landed on Harry and Hermione was enough to throw them down nearly unconscious. "Let us show you what the real power can do!"
"They're the sorcerers that Flamel fought with," Hermione said as realization struck her forcefully. How else could they know about alchemic sorcery? "This is bad."
It was bad not only because they were dealing with the only type of mage able to go one on one against a Stone user and win, but because these particular sorcerers had decades of experience on them in using their powers. Harry and Hermione on the other hand had literally a few hours of first hand learning in manipulating magical energies throughout their bodies rather than concentrating them through wands.
Harry reached forward with his hand and clenched it shut, but instead of breaking bones or rending flesh his invisible attack had no effect. Hermione gestured and lances of stone shot out of the ground, but their tips blunted and crumbled on impact with the two sorcerers.
"We're completely overpowered," Harry said. He lifted his hands, fists clenched, and waited for a moment as black lightening coiled around his arms before boiling off toward Septimus.
"Useless," Septimus said, his hastily conjured shield absorbing the underpowered attack. He staggered slightly as Harry mimicked his earlier attack, but Sense stepped in between her brother and the onslaught to absorb it herself.
Harry brought his stone to his lips and drank deeply from the Elixir as Sense's counter spell gouged into his flesh where he failed to block it. The pain receded and Hermione drew in close to him to concentrate on defense.
"I'll stop their attacks, just concentrate on defeating them Harry," Hermione said reassuringly. Harry's raw magical power once against outstripped her own, especially since sorcery was less about knowledge and more about the magnification of innate potential.
Harry gestured again, this time causing a hail of breaking spells to flash against Septimus' shield until it began to break apart. However, as quickly as damage appeared it began to heal when the sorcerer realized what was happening and started feeding magical energy back into the spell.
Hermione shuddered as thousands of tiny needle-like projectiles wore away at her defenses. Harry's attacks were likewise being repelled by Septimus who seemed to be content to let his sister do most of the offensive work.
"Stay close, I'm going to try to finish moving us clear of the ward," Hermione said. They were both breathing heavily, even with the rejuvenating effects of the Elixir working for them. They were simply using too much of their own innate magical reserves to fuel the stone's unending hunger for energy in battle.
Fortunately their skirmish with the Artemis siblings had bought enough time for Remus and McGonagall to get everyone to safety. Now that there was nothing keeping them at this place it appeared that it was time to make their own escape.
"Leaving already?" Septimus asked smoothly. Muted flashes of light followed by dull reverberations as pure energy spells were dissipated into the atmosphere rocked both sides of the conflict. Yet in the middle of that maelstrom the participants remained remarkably calm.
"We've already accomplished our goal here," Hermione replied. She wiped her bushy hair back out of her eyes. There was a flicker and then they disappeared under the influence of their portkeys.
"He who fights and runs away, lives to fight another day," Septimus said flatly into the empty space.
"Harry, Hermione, are you all right?" Ron asked frantically when they appeared at the pre-designated point. He relaxed immediately when he saw that they could stand and move freely.
"We had feared that there might have been problems when we saw that those two could match your powers," McGonagall said.
"There's trouble," Harry said. He sat down heavily on a chair that one of the muggle werewolves had brought over and was joined by Hermione a moment later. "Those two are the sorcerers that Flamel fought in Russia."
"What do you mean?" Remus asked. Ron and Luna looked similarly confused. McGonagall on the other hand had turned white as a sheet.
"Is Fudge insane?" she said softly. Such terrible individuals as they would have been better left alone in whatever seclusion Flamel had driven them into.
"Is it really that bad?" Luna asked.
"They tried to rule the world once, or at least that's what Flamel's journal implied," Hermione said ruefully.
"Then they're that powerful?" Ron said, still disbelieving.
"You wouldn't know," McGonagall said, finally finding her voice. "The sorcerers Nicholas fought were monsters in ever sense of the word. Nicholas spoke of their twisted goal of creating some kind of magical dynasty to rule, but what they desired most was carnage, random violence. If they're unleashed again it could be the end."
"The end of us?" Harry asked, quite concerned now. Flamel must have glossed over some of the horror of these people in his journal for McGonagall to have such a visible reaction.
"The end of history," McGonagall replied.
