First and foremost thank you for the follows and reviews, all within twenty four hours of publishing . Secondly, the game alluded to in the last chapter is 'Saints Row the third' so that's where Timothy got his weapon from. Non-Potter spells are from 'Negima', the securis.. is written in Greek in the manga so I had to used Google translate so sorry if it doesn't quite work and the alternate form of sagitta magic lacked a translation but it's fairly obvious what it is. The ring is a modified version of those found in 'PhD Phantasy degree' so if anyone has read that then you know what the side effect is. Apart from all that I own absolutely noting and please enjoy.
It was not a good day for Arthur Weasley. Molly had been ill for only a few days but already the house was in disarray and he had overslept this morning. He had barely time for his breakfast so the Daily Prophet lay still rolled up on the kitchen table and the owl letters were unopened. Cursing his poor body clock he apparated to work not knowing just how bad the day was going to get.
The first thing he noticed was how long it took him to get to the Ministry, for the first time in years he had to apply actual effort, almost as if he was having to force his way through. When he finally reached his destination Arthur Weasley wondered whether he had actually gotten to the correct place. There was debris everywhere in the main lobby and the smoke from the numerous fires stung his eyes which were already feeling the strain of the dim lighting. Casting lumos he tentatively he edged forwards only to halt suddenly when he stood on something squishy. Arthur looked down only to jerk back in revulsion. It was a body, a dead, burned body. Sending the light from the tip of his wand to the ceiling Arthur looked around. There were bodies strewn everywhere, some crushed by rubble whilst others seemed to be cut up neatly with limbs or heads missing. Glances at the rest of the surroundings showed that the lobby was in ruins. The numerous fireplaces that flanked the hall were crumbling, the glass windows were naught but frames and powder and the witch and wizard figures of the golden fountain had been melted into a pool of slag whilst the rest had been left apparently intact. Moving towards the remaining statues out of curiosity, as he neared them he noticed that they had actually been altered. The features were no longer those of awed subservience but of pride. The Weasley patriarch frowned, he knew of several magical creature groups who despised the Ministry but none would have the ability to launch a direct assault. As he paused to consider the situation he became aware that he was being watched. Turing around he winced at the sight that met him. A strange creature, she seemed to be a transfigured witch. Her brown hair seemed to be tied back and she looked roughly human, if you overlooked the long fangs, horns and wings, however it was the eyes that transfixed Arthur. The yellow orbs seemed to glow and the colour seemed to swirl and flicker like a flame but it was the intensity of the gaze that held the unfortunate wizard in place. The witch stared at him as if she could see through him to his very soul and the effect wasn't pleasant, it made him feel cold and the hairs stood up on the back of his neck.
"What are you doing here? A high level alert has been brought into effect, only Aurors and Hit Wizards are supposed to be here and you don't look like a member of either group," she said calmly as her eyes bore into him.
"I-I'm Arthur Weasley, I just came in for work..." he answered weakly.
At that the witch's eyes widened and seemed to glow even more, though thankfully with less malevolence.
"Arthur Weasley... the bloke with the flying car?" she asked.
Despite the situation Arthur sighed, he'd never been able to shake the shame of that event. Instead of a verbal response he plumped for a simple nod.
"I remember your attempt a Muggle protection bill, it is unfortunate that it did not come to pass," replied the witch as she appeared to pause in contemplation, "you should not have come here. However I must thank you, if you had not appeared I would not know that I need to greatly reinforce the anti-apparition wards,"
An instant after she had finished speaking Luka lunged forwards grabbing the surprised wizard. With superhuman speed she deposited him the nearest floo grate that would function and with a rush of black flames she sent him packing. Now, just to modify the wards further so only those using Auror apparition frequencies or those willing to take the time to crack the wards could enter.
XXX
Back at Hogwarts there was dissent in the furry ranks.
"Well, I think we have let enough time go past. Now can we follow her?" asked Timothy as he peered out of the window.
"Yeah, she won't hurt us for just following her. She may have her job but she's no Sally," added Jim.
"Really... exactly what do you idiots think you will achieve?" asked Claude frostily.
"Aww don't be like that Claude. Even if we can't help I just wanna to see how this ends," pouted Alois.
The ex-butler sighed before relenting. As for the Hogwarts staff they were quickly holding an emergency meeting concerning how they would get to the Ministry and deal with Luka and a full grown demon. Their hurried conversation didn't go unnoticed by the others.
"Yo Gandalf, got any ideas about how to get into the Ministry? Odds are Luka's blocked people from getting in," chirped Timothy.
The headmaster looked over at the cheeky werewolf with indifference. After Luka had left the Hogwarts staff had been given their wands back with the warning that if they tried to attack it wouldn't end well. At present they were stood around the prone bodies of Daniels who was now finally deceased and Diggory who had fainted when Timothy had told him he was about to take a practice swing at his head.
"If you reopen the floo we can go direct to the Ministry lobby," the old wizard replied.
"It won't unlock itself for hours, we were only supposed to use it as a one way passage," said Jim, "we would use Faustus' shadow gates but we don't know where we're going to,"
"In that case it would be best to use side along apparition would it not headmaster?" said Professor Snape.
The headmaster nodded and agreed that he and Professor Snape would apparate the werewolves to the Ministry's visitor's entrance, the wraiths would follow when the wolves passed on the location thanks to Mike's phone's GPS. After further debate and vociferous objections from Madam Pomfrey Professor Lupin persuaded them to allow him to tag along. To Professor Snape's annoyance it was he who would be transporting Lupin. Thus, the unlikely allies set off for the Ministry.
Upon arrival the weres and wizards were greeted by a shaken Arthur Weasley. As the wraiths appeared there was already a heated discussion underway as to how to gain entry to the warded Ministry and what to do when they got there.
"Even if we take down Reginold's wards we can't apparate straight to the Ministry when they are on this state of alert as they will have yet more wards. Only Ministry personnel can enter," stated Snape, the visitors' entrance had been discussed and since none of them were contortionists that idea went straight out of the window.
"How deep underground is the lobby?" asked Claude.
"I'm not sure, a hundred feet perhaps," ventured Arthur uncertainly.
"After you bring down the wards I can dematerialise and travel through the ground to check the distance. The last thing I imagine you want to step out of a shadow gate into solid rock," said Claude.
The rest of the wizards and weres just nodded whilst Alois cooed and flung his arms around Claude's neck for his good idea. Despite the wraith's continuing frosty demeanour a few comments regarding his 'ooey, gooey centre' and the fact that he was probably just a big softie were exchanged between the weres.
The following descent into the Ministry went quite well, the Hogwarts staff had brought down the wards with little trouble as it seemed they concentrated non-Auror apparition frequencies and a type of locomotion used by grim reapers. The barrage of questions concerning the latter went unanswered except for the odd snigger but Professor Snape had a feeling that the existence of such creatures explained the young man with the lawn mower he had seen at the bar. A glance at Professor Lupin showed that he wasn't the only one thinking along those lines.
Now within the Ministry the motley group busied themselves with observations. The headmaster and Professor Snape made scans with their wands revealing that numerous curses had been used, mainly those to tear flesh and cause other horrific injuries and the unforgiveables were also present, though they had been fired from Ministry wands. Whilst the wizards did that Madam Pomfrey bustled round checking for vital signs, she found none. Most had been killed by magic or sword but the earlier blasts had taken their toll, one could pick out the odd foot or hand protruding from the rubble if they looked close enough. It was evident that the Ministry had been locked down straight after the attack and the bodies had yet to be moved. The wraiths made their the rounds like the matron but they aimed to extinguish life if they found any. Unfortunately Luka seemed to have decided to be selfishly efficient. Professor Lupin on the other hand merely looked over the destruction with a sense of shock. Like Arthur who stood next to him he found it difficult to grasp the reality of such a death toll in peace time with the absence of Lord Voldemort. From the corner of his eye he saw the flitter of movement, the weary werewolf turned as quickly as his condition would allow. Seeing that it was just his Muggle counterparts he relaxed. It seemed that they were passing around a jar of a Vaseline like substance. In response to the professor's quizzical look Mike piped up.
"The menthol in this stuff helps block out the smell of the bodies, that said though, they still look tasty,"
Professor Lupin just nodded dumbly whilst noting that the trio's animalistic traits were indeed taking over. They were now sporting elongated nails and teeth and Timothy seemed to be having a hard time removing his gaze from all the treats laid out before him. As the group reassembled to share their findings the eerie silence was torn asunder by screams. From the opposite of the make shift grave scampered half a dozen witches and wizards, their robes torn and covered in dust. Out of the darkness erupted beams of light which were immediately identifiable as sagitta magica ignis (fire magic arrows). The spells impacted on the backs of the helpless mages and they fell to the ground shrieking, the stench of burning flesh adding to the already pungent aroma of the lobby. Emerging from the darkness as her victims drew their last breaths came Luka, her blood covered sword in one hand whilst her magic pulsed around her in red swirls. From their positions the motley group felt their breaths catch in their throats. Despite the distance they could feel her magic bearing down on them as if the air pressure had increased to the point where they found it hard to breathe. The weres and Professor Snape were affected more than the others due to her increasing use of all of her powers. As they watched the werewolf switched her attention from the survey of her kills to their group. In the blink of an eye she stood covered the distance to the fountain in order to facilitate easier discussion.
"You were told to remain at Hogwarts," she said calmly as her faze swept over the trio of weres.
They flinched back instinctively and remained cringing until Jim plucked up the courage to speak.
"We could not just stay out of harm's way when you put yourself in danger. I know that the one characteristic you hold dear above all others is loyalty, you won't punish us for merely trying to help," he said meekly.
"I know full well you're here to nose about not to help," replied Luka before sighing and continuing, "fine, you can hang around but at the first sign of trouble you're out of here. I'm heavy handed at the best of times and the last thing I want is to blast you to pieces,"
"We are not here to nose, we are here to prevent you from committing further crimes against our kind," stated Professor Dumbledore, now assured that they were dealing with a Dark witch he was back in comfortable territory.
"You're not doing a particularly good job," replied the witch with a toothy grin as she gestured in the direction of the charred corpses.
"I cannot allow this to continue," said the headmaster as he raised his wand.
However before he had a chance to cast a spell cracks of apparition rang through the lobby. The Aurors had arrived with Rufus Scrimgeour and Amelia Bones in the lead.
"You certainly took your time, I never thought you would be foolish enough to leave only a skeleton garrison whilst you gallivanted off around the country gathering your forces rather than sending out runners," said Luka as she made an inventory of those present including, to her delight, the Minister of Magic himself, the fool had probably wanted to be present as the Ministry triumphed over its 'Dark enemy'. Luka snorted in derision.
"Your reign of terror over our people is at an end monster! This time you will be destroyed," hissed Scrimgeour.
"You've said that before and every instance was a failure," smirked Luka.
Scrimgeour snarled as he assessed the situation, the demon wasn't here which was a decided bonus but the creature was still powerful. However there were ways around that, everything has weaknesses, it was just a matter of finding them. That was why strategy came into things rather than brute strength alone. His eyes flicked over the group headed by Professor Dumbledore, three werewolves he thought in disgust before the smirk took over. That's right he thought, just like the first time. The creature had such a string desire to protect and those were clearly friends of hers. He pointed to the three abominations.
"Fire,"
Viridian streaks raced across the lobby as the Aurors and the Hit Wizards applied the killing curse without question. At the click of Scrimgeour's fingers the surviving Unspeakables prepared to use their latest weapon.
Luka's eyes widened as she saw the magic speed towards her friends, she could hardly believe that the mages would be so reckless as to endanger Hogwarts staff who may be caught in the cross fire. Shunting her magic forwards with her body lumbering behind she leapt into action and space itself churned under the power of her magic.
Professor Snape felt the world swim as Luka's magic washed over him. As it dissipated he and the others watched in shock as the barrage of killing curses merely rolled through them and impacted on the nearby wall, reducing it to rubble and dust. Looking at himself and his colleagues and then the Ministry personnel he noted that something was off. Whilst he could perceive Professor Dumbledore and the rest with perfect clarity it seemed as though a filter was between himself and the outside world altering what he could sense. All of this he noted and processed in less than a couple of seconds.
In those seconds Luka learned that she had made a fatal error. Forcing all her magic forwards left little for defence and that gave the Unspeakables all the opportunity they needed. The blows came from all directions making them impossible to avoid even for a werewolf. The metal javelins ripped through her body pinioning her to the ground, the barbs digging into both flesh and cold stone. Metal chains rigged with spike bound the javelins and tightened tearing the body that was ensnared in their grasp. Dismembered and apparently dying Luka fell to the floor in several pieces.
One of the Aurors edged forwards towards the body as others edged towards the Hogwarts staff to investigate the strange phenomenon. They had seemed to shimmer moments ago and now they didn't look as if they quite there, almost like ghosts or memories in a pensieve. The lone Auror bent closer to see Luka's ripped torso rising with breath and a pair of intact eyes glaring at him. All her power meant nothing now as she lacked the concentration to wield it due to the pain and blood loss.
"It is still alive Scringeour,"
"Get out of the way Shacklebolt, we don't want you getting caught by a stray killing curse," replied Scrimgeour as another volley of the unforgiveable was released.
The storm of green was within yards of the intended victim when it was consumed the wall of darkness that rose from the ground. From behind the haze Professor Snape frowned as a foot stepped out of the dark tendrils, for a moment he could have sworn he saw stiletto heels but the shoe in view was now most definitely a man's flat shoe. He put it down to the distortion and returned to his observations. As he watched the whole figure emerged and despite whatever separated him and the rest of the 'visitors' from the rest of the Ministry he still felt the temperature fall by many a degree. Sebastian Michaelis had returned for his contractor. The elegant demon was dressed in a black suit with a tieless shirt that matched his crimson eyes. His gaze swept the assembled mages with amusement and his smirk was that of a cat who was deciding on how to play with its mouse. Sebastian arched a perfectly shaped brow as he caught sight of the Hogwarts staff, wraiths and weres.
"Nice dimensional shift Luka," he said as he turned to the fallen witch, he smiled sweetly as he looked her over, "whilst I appreciate your need for rest I doubt that the floor makes a nice place for a sleep,"
Sebastian's mirth increased as he heard Luka growl.
"Ah yes, I forgot those chains bind magic as well as your body," he said as he waved his hand over Luka's body. The chains shattered.
Luka's aura once again began to swirl and turn red with irritation, it was most irksome to come so far and then be bumped back down by wand waving idiots. Muttering in frustration Luka summoned her separate body parts with telekinesis before welding them in place with magic, full repairs could be done later. Shaking slightly she got to her feet to stand next to her master.
Kingsley watched as the creature got to its feet. It should be dead, nothing could take that amount of damage he thought in disbelief. Raising his wand to curse the abomination he only quickened his fate. Sebastian came to stand before him in a blink of an eye and Shacklebolt was dead before he realised it. Sebastian smirked as the wizard's body fell to the ground, the head twisted around by one hundred and eighty degrees. The demon then turned to his servant who smiled in return. Time to destroy the mages' house of cards. With a click of her fingers Luka caused the ground beneath the Unspeakables to erupt spewing spears of rock into the air. Before they could even scream the wizards were impaled and hoisted upwards. Sebastian cocked his head to one side thoughtfully.
"A touch medieval don't you think?"
"They dismembered me, I take that personally, besides now with them gone we can focus on that lot," Luka replied as she watched the Aurors and Hit Wizards begin to shake with fear.
"Scrimgeour, who are these people?" hissed Bones, she had only been told that a wanted prisoner had breached ministry security yet she didn't recognise the two people in front of her, if they could even be called people. More like Dr Frankenstein and his pet monster.
At the witch's question Sebastian chuckled, as typical of such bureaucratic organisations the left hand didn't know what the right was doing, "Madam do you truly not recognise us? Only a few years ago we were your most illustrious prisoners here in the Ministry and then two of your most wanted criminals,"
"Not to mention I have just resigned from the Ministry's employ. You were my head of department Bones," added Luka smirking.
Madam Bones looked astounded before her eyes narrowed as she looked at the pair. She recognised them now. The female was the one who had been captured two years ago for the deaths of many Unspeakables and Aurors and the near total destruction of the Department of Mysteries that had occurred another two years earlier. But surely she had been put to death in Azkaban? Concluding that the red eyed man standing beside her must be her accomplice Bones drew her wand. Enough people had died, she would end this herself if necessary. And with that the battle began. Having already been given the authorisation to utilise unforgiveables the assembled Ministry mages released another volley of the killing curse in the vain hope that it would destroy their opponents. It did not. Sebastian merely batted the blasts aside with tendrils of shadows and Luka shot down those she could not lazily side step with blasts of her own, just because the curse could not kill her did not mean it didn't hurt.
Sebastian tutted in disappointment, "How unoriginal, how about we show them what true magical prowess means?"
"I agree, should I reacquaint them with their old comrades my lord?" smiled Luka.
"Excellent idea,"
The Ministry wizards ceased firing once Luka and Sebastian began conversing seeing as it was futile to expend their energy on curses that were so easily negated. They watched as the pair walked forwards. The man smiling and the creature with her hands slightly outstretched by her sides, a mockery of a plea for peace.
Through her fingertips Luka felt her power extend to the shadows below, she may not have been a lich or voo doo priestess but she could open the gates between worlds and call on the dead. Or in this case her personal garrison of dead mages ... and executed werewolves.
The mages watched as a mist seemed to roll out of the shadows and the air became noxious with the reek of decay. Out of the mist rose bodies in various states of decomposition. The horror of the mages increased as they recognised some of the rotting faces which were now accompanied by beings half way between human and animal. As one of the beasts let forth a blood curdling howl from its torn throat the mages lost the last of their resolve and began cursing wildly or fled for their lives.
"Should we add your imps to the mix?" asked Luka as oversaw her subordinates.
"No, they are effective but impersonal. I trust you have the same view, you have mobilised less than half of your zombies,"
"Yeah, that and they're hard to control,"
"Well then, shall we?" asked Sebastian indicating to the fleeing mages.
With matching smirks the duo ran into battle. Sword drawn Luka dove into the crowd from the air. Shattered Soul sang with joy as it swept through the air parting limbs and heads from bodies. Smiling Luka watched as victim after victim fell before her blade. Glancing around she noted her puppets were tearing into the opposition with the weres being making that statement literal. The wizard zombies, however, utilised spells rather than physical force. It was difficult for Luka to top up their magical cores and to control their attacks but the effect was most gratifying. Sebastian's attacks, on the other hand, were almost dance like with their grace. None could compare to her master, even after all her training Luka couldn't hold a candle to him. Then again he did have the benefit of far greater experience. As she watched the demon employed his shadows to deadly effect. The shimmering darkness was a swirling cloak of death as it tore into opponents with the same sharpness as any blade. Fire too seemed to be a favourite of Sebastian's, the floos were now quite functional roasting pits that snatched any passing victim into their hellish maws. As she continued to watch Luka spied the odd knife and fork fly from Sebastian's gloved hands. Despite no longer being a butler Sebastian still seemed to cling to his trademark weaponry. Luka wondered if she should tease the demon over becoming sentimental in his old age, but seeing that he was unerring in his accuracy perhaps diplomatic silence would be the less painful option. The witch's musings were interrupted by a cutting curse from her left. She batted it away in irritation only to find that her hand connected with the jaw of her attacker as well as the irksomely weak spell. Looking down she saw a young woman in slightly punkish clothing. Luka snarled as she sized up the whelp's power, whilst she couldn't sense souls particularly well from a distance like Sebastian but she could still sense a mage's strength, in this case there was little to see. In disgust Luka raised her boot, the witch's eyes widened comically and her hair turned pale blue as Luka pinned her skull to the floor before crushing it. Looking back up at the battle Luka remembered Sebastian's observation concerning the constant repetition of the same attack and his order to instruct the Ministry on proper magic usage. She sighed, sword swinging was fun but she easily narcissistic enough to delight in showing off. Setting her sights on a dozen mages who had banded together as a circle to fight of the werewolf zombies. Luka sheaved her sword with a flourish and quickly incanted.
"Securis de fulgurum! (axe of lightning)"
As if the ceiling was an artificial storm cloud lightning burst from it smiting the mages ad cracking the marble beneath their feet. The zombies sniffed at the charred remnants before turning their attention elsewhere. Smiling Luka whirled around her imagination firing with ideas as what to do next. Her smile was lost as she saw the Minister, Bones, Scrimgeour and a select few Aurors were assembling a defence ward and it was one that would be effective. Apparently she and Sebastian hadn't been as effective in destroying all the Ministry's demon lore books as they had believed. This would have to end quickly. Typical, she was having so much fun. Pushing her own disappointment and irritation to one side she threw a shielding charm around herself and gathered her power.
The Ministry mages watched with horror and fascination as Luka began to glow brighter. The crimson now gave way to streaks of icy blue and the air seemed to grow colder by the second. To those close enough to look closely swore they could see flakes of snow fall around her. Amongst them Sebastian smiled as he recognised the preparation. Putting his last few foes to death he decided to return to sidelines as it would give the best view with the least pain.
Behind the dimensional shift the Hogwarts staff and wraiths watched with anticipation, the bloodletting so far had been gruesome. The trio of weres on the other hand only spared the one sided massacre a glance now and again for they had far more important things on their minds; food. Out of their rucksacks they had pulled blocks of charcoal and despite the smell liquid barbeque fuel still in the air they were now cooking burgers and sausages of questionable origin. For reasons unknown the nearby wizards refused to join the make shift feast.
Having decided that enough magic had been raised from her reserves Luka dismissed her zombies back their abode and began the relatively lengthy spell.
"To shumbolion diakonoto moi hei krystaline bashleia evigenato taionion elebos haionie krystale versais zoice ton ison tanaton hos ataksia kozmike katazrofe! (Upon our pact, do my bidding, O Queen of Ice. Come forth from the never ending darkness, the eternal glacier, bring death to all that hast life. You are the place of eternal rest: End of the world!)"
As the spell began the Ministry wizards felt cold rush towards them and then they felt no more. The entire battlefield was frozen solid with even the water vapour in the air falling as snow and the heavier gases swirled around the floor as a mist. Upon the conclusion the frozen wizards and the surroundings shattered like broken glass, their glittering remains bedecked the lobby like spilled jewels. The only places unaffected were the new warded area and the space now inhabited by the group from Hogwarts.
Opening her eyes Luka surveyed the damage with satisfaction. All the chaff was gone and the best was left for last. As she stepped towards her trapped prey she could feel her magic swirling around her wild and untamed. Unfortunate as that lack of control was she knew it was the only logical conclusion of taxing her magic to its limit. It had grown during her incarceration and was now beyond her ability to control. Fortunately it would be a while before it reached its zenith and what she had come here to do would be long since concluded. Taking another step forwards she noticed Sebastian by her side. As they neared the barrier he raked it with shadow blades, nothing. The wards held steady, they were relatively weak in that they could do no damage to the attacker but they would still require him to use his true form and that was not an option. Not only were the pathetic worms not worthy of his majesty but it was not uncommon for his true form to drive humans mad with terror. He wanted them lucid.
"Bring it down," he commanded.
"Yes my lord," Luka nodded and commenced work, "sagitta magica convergentia lucis!"
Five points of light form in the air before racing towards the wards converging into one the attack struck with five times the power of a normal magic arrow. Luka curled her lip, it had made a dent but it still hadn't brought the ward down nor had it wiped off the arrogant smirks off the faces of Scrimgeour and the Minister. At least Bones and the surviving Aurors had the decency to look scared. Hissing with fury as Scrimgeour chuckled Luka rushed to the wards. Planting her hands on the magic force field and unfurling her wings she gathered her errant magic into her body and poured it outwards in a weakly controlled but powerful flow. Her magic and aura grew incandescent scarlet as the ignis animarum (fire of the soul) took effect. Magic flames erupted from her body scorching the ceiling and reducing the floor to lava. The wards began to melt and fall to pieces like melted plastic.
"No! Stop!" shouted Minister Fudge as he scrambled backwards.
"What are you?" breathed Madam Bones as the ward fell.
"I said it before, one of your prisoners and one of your employees," said Luka who was slightly out of breath, her magic was whirling wildly now and it felt as if she was burning up after her latest spell.
"I have never heard of something like you working in my department," replied Bones.
"How irksome, one would have thought that the officer with the highest arrest record and who went where no one else wanted to go would have gotten your attention,"
"Silence! Do you want your family to be punished again?" hissed Scrimgeour.
Luka snarled in anger whilst Madam Bones whirled to face the Auror.
"What do you mean Scrimgeour? Since when did we pass on the punishment from criminal to their family?" she hissed.
Scrimgeour stopped himself from retorting sarcastically, this was why he had taken personal responsibility for this case. Amelia Bones would be too concerned about ethics and the treatment of the creature rather than the bigger picture concerning the protection of the wizarding populace. It was best to re-subjugate the creature first then try and reason with his superior. If he tried it the other way around there may be no wizards left alive in the Ministry.
"If either of you take a step closer I will send the order to have Reginold's family killed as well as all of her past friends persecuted," he snarled, he smirked as he saw the pained expression on the creature's face.
"You don't have that sort of power wizard," answered Sebastian in Luka's stead, he too had noticed her expression but he put it down to the state of her magic as well as the prospect of vicariously causing such harm to those she held dear.
"We haven't put all of our eggs in one basket demon! There are many officials ready to take my commands. The more you resist, the more people we hurt," he cast a scathing look over Luka, "the trouble with you monster, is that you are too human. Perhaps we should eradicate your memory again? You were a good tool while you lasted,"
Luka held still, she'd only just relieved her parents of their Obliviation a couple of months ago when she had first met up with Sebastian. They had placed protective enchantments on the house but they could have been breached. She couldn't allow anyone else to get hurt but this just wasn't fair! They were so close to their revenge. To be thwarted just as they were about to bring justice to the halls of the Ministry was maddening!
Sebastian watched his servant closely. He knew her desire for vengeance was as great as his but she was loyal to others as well as him. If he ordered her to kill now knowing full well the consequences of her actions she would never forgive him. The demon sighed, perhaps he was getting sentimental after dealing with humans for such a long time but he didn't want to see her hurt.
Meanwhile the Minister cowered behind his bodyguards and the cogs in Madam Bones' head whirled with the lack of information, "Explain yourself Scrimgeour, did she really work for us?"
The Auror hesitated before replying, finally determining the pair sufficiently threatened he spoke, "Yes, it was found originally four years when some Muggles needed to be Obliviated. It blames us for the collateral damage that occurred that day and killed both the Obliviators involved and a number of our Aurors and Hit Wizards. Finally we captured it and made it serve us. It could go to places deemed too hazardous for our usual staff and due to the form it took the criminals usually underestimated it. It worked perfectly until it regained its memories and it has been most obstinate in returning to its former servile state,"
Luka could barely believe her ears, "Collateral damage? Is that what you call forcing my Muggle friends into madness?" she screeched as the magic she had fought to contain burst free.
Scrimgeour was forced to take a step back as he fought off the oppressive of magic. It pressed against him making it nearly impossible to breathe and it made his body feel stiff and heavy, as if he was composed of lead.
Suffering a similar sensation Madam Bones spoke in disgust, "Is that true Scrimgeour? I remember hearing about some Muggles being admitted to St Mungo's just before the Department of Mysteries was nearly destroyed,"
"Yes, but it was nothing really. They would have revealed our existence if they had not been dealt with. Is that not right Minister?" retorted Scrimgeour.
The head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement turned to the Minister.
"Amelia, try to understand. We needed to protect our citizens, the needs of the many trump the comfort of the few," he said placatingly as the witch glared at him.
"We have truly reaped what we have sewn haven't we? You, demon, if you can put an end to this," she indicated to Luka who was now kneeling on the floor and in the process of vaporising all nearby matter, "we can discuss this rationally and come to some arrangement,"
The demon nodded after a moment before bending next to his servant.
"Luka you must rein in your magic before you destroy this place,"
"I don't wish to do deals with these people," she replied as she looked up into his crimson eyes.
"I know, but if their terms do not please us we can always kill them later," he sighed, "perhaps we have been too blatant in our first attempt. If you bring return everything to normal we will subvert them quietly but the end result will be no less satisfying. Besides, it will be fun to kill some of these upstart wizards twice,"
"I can't bring it all back, I don't have my ring," Luka replied, she'd stopped the destruction but now she felt like a ticking time bomb.
From his position in the spacial disturbance Professor Lupin listened to the discussion. He remembered a ring that was amongst the confiscated artefacts. There had been magic in it but it had always resisted his analysis, a constant puzzle.
"Do you mean this one?" he asked as he plucked it from his pocket, he had always kept in his pocket sp he could have a look at it whenever he had had the time.
Sebastian narrowed his eyes at the mongrel, it was the correct ring alright. Crossing the lobby with inhuman speed he reversed the dimensional shift and plucked the ring from the werewolf's hand. Surprised at the demon's speed Professor Lupin yelped and flinched backwards, almost fall in to the make shift barbeque. With a smile Sebastian returned to Luka's side. The young witch gladly accepted the ring. As it went on her finger the witch glowed a blinding white as the magic gathered from the air into her body.
"I'll take care of the building work, you fix the bodies," Sebastian instructed, it would be amusing to see the mages' reaction to their little spectacle. It felt good to show off every now and again.
Under the demon's direction the debris flew back to its original places, the statues reformed themselves from their molten puddles and even the powered glass flowed back to the window frames from whence it had came. In less than ten seconds the lobby was reconstructed back to its intact self with every detail correct, even down to the last scratch on the floor.
Luka on the other hand the more delicate task of repairing everyone she and Sebastian had killed whose souls had yet to leave their bodies. The Ministry and Hogwarts staff watched as glowing tendrils reached out from Luka's aura to reunite limbs with bodies. On contact the flesh seemed to knit together before the tendrils went to their next target. The various pools of blood on the marble floor separated and flowed back to their respective owners and the charred flesh from the lightning strike glowed as it underwent repairs. Once a body was reassembled a small electric charge was delivered to the sinoatrial node in heart and telekinesis applied to inflate the lungs as a smaller electric current was instigated in the medulla oblongata. As the resuscitation process continued a number of the Ministry personnel woke up groggily whilst others lay unconscious. Those that were awake had their looks of confusion replaced by terror as they watched the continuing repair job happen around them. It was one thing to take life but the power required to return it on such a scale was terrifying. These sentiments were echoed by all the other spectators save one; Sebastian. He was surveying the process with satisfaction, it was nice to see someone who he had trained personally do such a feat and the expressions on the mages' faces were most entertaining.
"Very nice Luka," he purred.
"Of course, where ever would we be if a servant of yours couldn't accomplish this much? Although even I must admit that it has been most tiring," replied a smooth baritone.
Sebastian's smirk widened as Luka's glow faded and the 'minor' side effects of the enchanted ring became apparent. Taking advantage of the situation Sebastian turned to the Madam Bones.
"Now madam, I do believe we were about to discuss terms-"
At that moment the wards Luka had put up fell and along with them Sebastian's smile. Hell may not have loose as his expression suggested but the London grim reapers were here now and that was almost as bad.