==== MATRIARCH ====
==== HOGWARTS – SCOTLAND – UK – DECEMBER 19TH – 2021 A.D. ====
Rose had begun her traditional nervous pacing back and forth around the Headmasters office. Hugo looked almost like he was being hypnotized by it. Scorpius, James, Lily, Lynx and Violet however just looked annoyed. Tannis was far too deep into his own thoughts to even notice.
Albus's prolonged absence had begun to take it's toll on them after a week. Now it had been almost 4 and nerves were running high.
"Babe?" Scorpius said causing her to look up. "Your doing it again."
"Doing what?" Rose snapped.
"Trying to walk a hole in the floor!"
"I'm sorry! I'm trying to think of a way to help my cousin!" She hissed.
"We don't know that he's in trouble." James voice sounded sure but his eyes were deceiving. He was as worried as Rose was.
"It's been almost four week! And there hasn't been one single sighting or report about him anywhere!"
"Rose, maybe he has his reasons," Violet tried. "let's not forget that your parents disappeared for an entire year when they were trying to stop Voldemort!"
"They had to! They weren't bullet proof! They couldn't fly! And they certainly weren't a one man bloody army!" Rose huffed. "Why wouldn't he would as least let us know that he's okay?!"
"Headmaster!" Armando Dippets portrait yelled. "Intruders!"
Everyone, including Tannis looked up to see Lincoln and Amelia walking through the door of the the office.
"We wouldn't be intruding if your damn Gargoyles would've opened the door!" Amelia said.
"I'm sorry Headmaster," Armando's portrait pleaded in shock. "he walked right through the wall!"
"I'm sure it's quite alright Armando," Dumbledore's portrait said happily. "I've no doubt that the headmaster was expecting this visit,"
"Indeed I was Albus and I must remember to inform the relevant people of the new passwords," Tannis made a mental note. "So?"
"Nothing," Lincoln sighed. "I've talked to everyone I know, nobodies heard anything!"
"This kind of disappearance...it's their style," Amelia worried.
"Let's not count my brother out just yet," Lily spoke up. "let not forget what he can do. What he's already done."
Both James and Rose looked impressed and inspired by her confidence. Lily had always been the quiet one in these kinds of circumstances but she seemed completely certain that Albus would be okay. Somehow, it had actually lifted their spirits.
"Your right, Lily," Lincoln agree. "Short of Aurora's old man, Albus is the toughest son of a bitch I've ever seen. If he is in trouble, he'll get out of it!"
"Well, I'm not doubting that!" Amelia sighed. "But considering the resources we have -"
"Amelia!" Lincoln cut her off.
"I'm just saying! He picked a hell of a time to do a Houdini!"
"Err...who are you guys talking about?" Hugo asked.
"No one!" Lincoln and Amelia growled at the same time.
"It doesn't sound like no one!" Lynx jumped in.
"Look, you wanna know anything, you talk to Sophia when she gets here!" Lincoln scowled.
"Sophia's coming here?" Tannis breathed is shock.
"Yeah,"
"Wait, is this the bird that's really really old?" Hugo blurted.
"Yes!" Amelia snapped.
"But looks young?"
"Yes!" She now looked ready to bite him.
"Is she fit?" Hugo asked absently.
"For crying out loud, Hugo!" Scorpius exclaimed.
"Can I eat him please?!" Amelia asked Lincoln in all seriousness.
"I wouldn't advise it, you don't know where he's been!"
"I'm sorry," Hugo smiled. "but that sounded so sexy!"
"That's it!" Amelia began charging towards Hugo!
"COULD EVERYONE," Tannis yelled causing Amelia to stop. "calm down! I know we are all worried and frustrated by the situation, but killing each other isn't going to help!"
"Err...headmaster?" Armando's portrait interrupted. "You have another visitor. This one also does not know the password but apparently cannot walk through walls either,"
"Let them in," Tannis said looking towards the office entrance.
Lincoln sniffed the air and as he did, a smile crept onto his face. The office door opened.
Although she still looked slightly frail, she was nevertheless still a picture of beauty. In some strange way, she seemed to almost glow.
"Aurora!" Lynx ran over to the entrance and hugged her best friend.
When they looked closer they saw that Aurora had purposely combed her hair over the left side of her face, covering what ever damage still remained. She obviously wasn't comfortable showing her battle scars just yet.
"I thought you weren't suppose to be out of the hospital yet?!" Amelia growled accusingly.
"I didn't like sitting around doing nothing," Aurora admitting.
"Are you sure your alright?" Violet asked.
"I'm fine...well...as fine as I can be,"
Tannis walked over and embraced Aurora like a father.
"I'm glad your okay," He whispered.
"Erm...I'm not sure if I should stay here. I sort of left without telling anyone. They're probably looking for me already." Aurora said sheepishly.
"Really?" Tannis smiled and looked over his shoulder. "Albus, have you seen Miss Lennox lately?"
"Yes," Dumbledore smiled. "A very friendly portrait a spoke to told me that he had spotted her in France, not far from Beauxbatons."
"Oh, I see," Tannis joined in with facade. "What about you Severus?"
On his portrait, Snape face tightened up, making him look like he had just swallowed a very sour sweet. "I heard the same headmaster," His obligation to the current Headmaster of Hogwarts forced him to lie.
"Ah, well, I'll inform the Auror's then. Meanwhile, I'm sure we can get you set up in Albus's room," Tannis suggested.
"Thank you," Aurora smiled. "Where is Albus? Is he here?"
The room dropped into an uncomfortable silence.
"What's happened?!" Aurora demanded.
==== CLERIC'S TEMPLE – LOCATION UNKNOWN – DECEMBER 19TH – 2021 A.D. ====
Marshall quickly approached Mathis' Lab with Lisa in toe. They pushed through the steel doors to find Mathis running around his lab frantically.
"Alright, what so important?!" Marshall asked immediately.
"Your not gonna believe this!" Mathis replied in excitement. "Look!"
He ran over to his computer and started pushing keys rapidly.
"I've been going out of mind trying to figure this out!"
"We know! Do you actually have anything for us this time?" Marshall asked.
"Yes!" Mathis exclaimed. "Alright, so we run dozens of scans on him, measuring everything from blood temperature to synaptic activity. We know he's had a Hyper-cognition implant because of all the fibrotic scaring along the cortex. And with the amount of neural cross firing that going on inside that head of his, we know it was a big one!"
"Yes, I've sent some people to see Lao. He's the only one capable of doing an implant that size," Marshall nodded.
"Exactly! But that is the only difference I was able to find! You take that away and he is exactly the same as all the others!" Mathis said quickly.
"We already know that," Lisa sighed.
"I know! And that's why I've been stumped ever since we got him here! But then I had an epiphany!" Mathis punched a few other keys and brought up an over head picture of a man lying on his back. "This entire time we've been looking at brain activity, blood chemistry, genetic coding... We've been looking in the wrong place," He hit one final key and the image changed.
"I recalibrate the wards in his cell to pick up on unknown energy levels, then cross referenced it with some of the data in the Ministry archives and this is what I got...,"
The picture was in fact a birds eye view of the other Anomaly that they had looked up in a cell just down the hall from them. There was, what looked like a white firework sitting in the middle of his chest, spitting out light in every direction.
"What is that?" Lisa breathed.
"His soul," Mathis smiled.
Marshall looked amazed. "You found a way to scan his soul?"
"I created a scan template based on some of the information on Soul Fire in the restricted section of the Ministry archives to read all the energy coming off his body. I don't know how accurate it is, it still need a lot of work. It took 3 days just to convert the readings into data, but...I think that is his...life force...," Mathis explained.
"That's incredible!" Lisa gasped.
"That's not all. This is Vanguards scan. This...," He pushed a few keys. "is Albus's."
The outline of Albus body was still visible but the rest had been obscured by a huge white pulsing energy that was emanating from the center of his chest. It looked almost like liquid made of light. This was at least 3 times stronger and brighter than the first.
"I can't even get a proper scan because his readings pegged everything off scale! This is the scan before the readings became so strong that the template couldn't actually interpret them anymore." Mathis said.
They stared at the picture in silence for a few seconds.
"How is that possible?" Marshall asked.
"My first guess would be...love," Mathis admitted. "he's in love. But...even thought that would intensify his readings, it wouldn't do this. I mean at the moment, it's like he's got a damn fusion reactor in his chest!"
"He really is one of them," Lisa breathed. "one of the Twins!"
"I can't confirm that yet," Mathis admitted. "I want to go back to the Ministry and gather all available information on Soul Fire, then I can design a better template and we can get a more accurate reading,"
"What's the point?!" Lisa objected. "It's him! We should kill him now!"
"These are inaccurate readings! It could be a glitch in the template, a malfunction or problem while interpreting the data!" Mathis looked Marshall in the eye. "We have to be sure!"
"Your right, we do," Marshall agree causing Lisa to look outraged. "Go to the Ministry, take an escort, they've heightened security recently, I want constant updates on this Mathis!"
"Alright!" Mathis said, grabbing a few things then rushing out of the door.
Lisa rubbed her face, still pissed.
"You don't approve?" He asked.
"Are you kidding me?! Albus is the one! We can't take the chance -"
"Chance of what, Lisa? Even if he is, we still have a whole year. If he's not, we'll kill him and go back to work."
"Your making a mistake!"
"This discussion is over!" Marshall growled causing Lisa to storm out of the room.
Lisa power walked down the corridor until she came into the enormous main hall of the temple. The huge flood lights still shining at the ceiling caused her to squint her eyes. He leaned against the wall and rubbed her eyes still frustrated at Marshall's reckless decision.
Through the light, she spotted the silhouette of a man, sitting on top of a table. It was Jack. Dangerous thoughts entered her mind and she began walking over to him.
He looked terrible. Pale and unshaven and still stinking of booze.
"Jack?" She asked carefully.
"What do you want, Lisa?" He growled without looking up.
"There's something you should know...,"
He seemed not to give a shit.
"They caught Albus,"
Now he looked up. Dead into her eyes as if to threaten her with death if she was joking or mistaken.
"...3 weeks ago...,"
"What?!" Jack roared.
"We were ordered not to tell y -" Her voice was cut off by his hand that had clamped around her throat.
His eyes were practically bleeding with anger. "Where is he?" He hissed through gritted teeth.
"H-holding cell 1!" She gasped.
"Give me your weapon!"
Lisa immediately took out her pistol and handed it to him. Jack snatched it and let go of her throat. He charged his way towards the holding cells.
He moved down the corridors, straight past Mathis' Lab and towards the steel doors. He walked into the holding cells and sure enough, there was Albus, still locked in his stasis coffin, not moving an inch.
Jack pushed the unlock code into the key pad beside the door and entered.
For a second he didn't even know if it was him or not. His doubts had come from his memories of Albus Potter. The wild, mindless powerhouse that had managed to fight his way out of an ambush in Venice. That had managed to gun down 11 of there people, crush 5 inside a car and murder his unarmed brother!
How could that monster of a man, simply be lying there?
In a minute or so it wouldn't matter. Jack pushed a few of the buttons on the side of the stasis coffin causing the top to open. He pointed the pistol straight at Albus's head.
"Wake up!" He growled.
He didn't move.
"WAKE UP!"
Albus was only able to open his eyes a fraction of the way.
"You remember me? You remember my BROTHER?! When you see him...you tell him I sent you!"
The shot rang out through the cell, the corridors and all the way back into the main hall.
Jack's eyes had gone wide, but so had Al's
The bullet had stopped less than 3 inches from Albus's head. Then came the sadistic grin.
"Thanks for the invitation, Jack," The bullet dropped to the floor. "couldn't have found the place without you!"
A blast of energy hit Jack in the chest sending him smashing into the wall. He slummed as he hit the floor.
Albus's restraints broke them selves off and he sat up, wide awake, still grinning. He watched Jack attempt to reach for the weapon but it had already shot through the air and into Al's hand.
He casually walked out of the open cell door, flicking his hand, causing it to slam shut behind him. He walked around to the glass window and watched Jack pick him self up.
"Nice place you got here," Albus taunted.
"YOU BASTARD! I'LL KILL YOU!"
"Don't go anywhere, Jack. You and me are gonna be spending a lot of time together." Albus gave him one more monstrous smile, still reveling in the fact that his plan had worked perfectly before walking out of the holding cell. Jack was in a frenzy, slamming him self against the glass and screaming in rage.
Unfortunately, the air tight rooms made it impossible to pick up the scent of the other Anomaly, that lay in a medically induce coma only a few cells down.
Albus walked down the corridor, spinning the pistol on his forefinger as he went.
He peaked through the door to the Lab. It was empty inside but several machines were hard at work performing their automated duties. Dozens of rats at the end of the room squeaked and shuffled around in their cages.
"Hmm," Albus was actually slightly impressed by the set up.
He continued down the corridor until he came to a second steel door. He opened it and looked inside. Nothing but an empty room, except for one massive metal cupboard at the end. He walked towards it and opened it.
Hundreds and hundreds of marked and unmarked port keys stared back at him. It certainly explained how they were able to move around so quickly.
He left the room and approached the next set of doors. These ones were marked. Armory.
He went inside and looked around. The place was filled to the brim with almost every kind of muggle weapon in the world. On the side wall were several Wand/Batons sitting in holsters. Next to them were a few dozen hand held CB radios. Then he spotted something he didn't expect to see.
An Ots-33 Automatic Pistol.
"Is that my gun?" He said to himself aloud. He picked it up to take a look. "That is my gun!"
The Cleric's had obviously taken it off him when they captured him or more accurately, when he had allowed himself to be captured.
He tucked it into the back of his trousers. He then spotted a box of Fragmentation Grenades sitting in a military marked box. He grabbed 2 of them and tucked them into his back pockets. Al left the room and headed back to the lab. He went inside and immediately began releasing all of the caged rats.
"Trust me lads, you aren't going to want to be here in a minute...oh sorry, ladies," The dozens of Rats hurried towards the entrance and any possible source of food.
Albus walked to the doors, turned, unpinned one of the grenades and threw it into the lab. He slammed the steel doors and put up a Gravity field around them. The explosion shook the entire corridor but Al's field held strong and none of it escaped the lab.
Happy with himself, he walked back down the corridor passed the Armory and out of the door at the end.
Albus found himself in a massive awe inspiring hall. He suddenly realized that the place had to be the same size, if not bigger than the Millennium Dome! He also knew that the only place to hide a structure that big was underground. The only question was, where exactly underground was he?
EMAnd where the hell is everyone?!/EM
He sniffed the air and picked up on a smell he remember well. - Lisa.
He scanned the area but couldn't see anyone. Albus then spotted the enormous statue towards the middle of the open hall. He was about to start walking towards it when he picked up on footsteps behind him.
He span around with Daggra's pistol pointed towards the sounds.
"Hello Albus," Marshall's voice echoed around the hall. "welcome home."
==== POTTER MANOR – OUTSIDE PETHAM – UK – DECEMBER 19TH – 2021 A.D. ====
Ron already had his arm around his sister and Hermione was trying desperately hard not to tear up. The revelation about their son had been just as hard to hear a second time. For her it much have been agony.
Ginny was shaking, as if she had just come in from an icy cold blizzard. She wasn't crying, maybe because she was still in such shock that she simply couldn't at that moment. She was just pale, staring into nothingness and not making a sound.
"We're gonna find him, Gin...we're gonna help him," Harry tried for the 3rd time.
"I tried to warn you...," She breathed a barely audible whisper. "I told you not to say those things about him!"
Ron, Harry and Hermione looked flabbergasted.
"You knew?" Harry blurted.
"I'm his mother! Of course I knew!" She hissed.
"Why didn't you -"
"Why do you think?!" She screamed.
"Ginny...I...," Harry couldn't form a full sentence.
"You put a warrant out for the arrest of our son! Our son, Harry!"
"Ginny...I had to -"
"You had too?! Why?! Because the Wireless told you too!? She was enraged.
"Because he threw a motorbike a my Godson!" Harry yelled back, not backing down. "Because he could be killing people as we speak!"
That was enough to finally make Ginny fall apart. She burst into tears and grabbed hold of her brother for dear life.
"What's happening to my baby?!" She cried, harder than ever before.
"Ginny...he's...he's not well," Tears were beginning to fall down Harry's face as well. "I'm going to help him...I promise!"
Ginny let go of her brother and embraced her husband. She cried even harder into his chest. "Find him, Harry! Bring him home!"
"I will...I promise...,"
==== CLERIC'S TEMPLE – LOCATION UNKNOWN – DECEMBER 19TH – 2021 A.D. ====
"Home?" Albus looked around quickly. "Sorry, I'm more of a Feng shui kinda guy,"
Marshall chuckled. "Why am I not surprised,"
"Your not the one I spoke to over the phone,"
"No, that was Mathis," Marshall said.
"And where is Mathis, I'm dieing to meet him,"
"He's not here. No ones here. I sent them away," He said calmly. "put the gun down Albus, I wouldn't be here if I didn't want to talk,"
Albus felt safe enough to lower his weapon.
"So," Al looked around again. "this is your...lair?"
Marshall nodded. "It's yours too. In fact it's more than that, It's your birthright."
"Come again?" Albus said with raised eyebrows.
Marshall nodded again, this time towards the huge statue just behind Al. Albus used the gun to direct the Cleric to move in front of him. Marshall did it without arguing.
Together they walked in to the front of it.
Albus looked up to see that it was in fact, of a beautiful women with long flowing hair and her arm reaching towards the heavens. She wasn't holding anything but was wearing some kind of long, dress that dropped to her ankles. There were no chip marks or signs of aging anywhere on the stone figurine.
Then the name at the bottom of the base caught his eye. Illyria. Al's mouth fell open.
"You know, the word Colossus means a statue or symbol of great power and importance. Ironic, don't you think?" Marshall smiled.
"What the hell is this?" Albus had prepared himself for a lot of things when he started his offensive against the Clerics, but this wasn't one of them.
"Surely you know the legend of Illyria?"
"The first witch," Albus answered absently, still looking up at the other Colossus.
"Not just the first witch, the first magical being to ever exist. And there was no such thing as a wand back then...so her power would have manifested it self much like yours -"
"Your telling me that Illyria was an Anomaly?"
"We don't know. Personally, I think she was a bit of both. But one things for certain. She gave birth to both the wizarding world and your species. Illyria is the mother of us all," Marshall said with a hint of pride in his voice.
"Bullshit! Anomalies aren't born, we evolve!" Albus hissed.
"And who gave you the power to evolve? She was the first and most powerful. When everyone still thought the world was flat, she had traveled this entire globe, building temples like this one wherever she went. When she was betrayed and imprisoned, the Temples were hidden or destroyed. But these structures weren't the only thing she left behind. The legends tell us that she awarded power to her most faithful followers, but that's only half true. You see, she gave them power in the hopes that if she ever was somehow killed, she could use that power to return,"
Albus had echoes of Voldemort's history running through his head.
"But, she underestimated the human race. Their ability to adapt. They were not only able to use the power she gave them, but were able to pass it on to others," Marshall continued.
"Purebloods,"
"That's right. Long ago, they thought that if they stayed in all magical families, then the power would never be too diluted from the source. But they were wrong. It passed through the human race without prejudiced. People with no magical lineage began to develop the ability to wield magic. And so the wizarding world was born,"
"But?"
"But...it didn't stop there. Even someone as powerful and wise as Illyria couldn't have imagined something like Evolution. The power that she had left behind began to change. And humans began to change as well. Instead of simply housing magic inside them, people began to live it. It became a part of them. It was rare, but it happened. People with the ability to control water, fire, lightning, to look inside the minds of others, to be strong enough to pick up boulders...to see the future...," Marshall smiled. "Do the names, Poseidon, Zeus, Apollo, Hercules mean anything to you? Where do you think those legends came from, Albus?"
"Bullshit! Your telling me that the Greek Gods were -"
"All myth's and legends have some truth to them. Imagine if someone like you had existed 5000 years ago. What would they call you, Albus? What do you call your self right now? Colossus! That's partly why we do what we do. The power always goes to your heads. And that got us thinking...Illyria built these temples because she wanted the whole world to know who she was, what she had accomplished. That she was all powerful. Why then, would she hand out power to other people? Why would she have ever taken the chance that people like you would call themselves gods and be written into history for the rest of time?"
"Maybe she was on the rag, having a bad day and just forgot!" Albus scowled. He still wasn't buying into it.
"Or maybe, it's the reason she was betrayed in the first place! Maybe, she planned to put a stop to her mistake before it got out of hand!" Marshall believed every single word he was saying. "She saw what was coming and she tried to stop it! She never meant for your kind to exist! Your entire race, was an accident!"
Albus didn't show it, but the possibility of that felt like a freight train running through his stomach.
"She knew what would happen if your species was allowed to carry on living! Maybe thats why she built the Machine!" He said furiously.
"Speaking of which," Albus focused. "let's see this Machine!"
Marshall took a few steps back then reached for his wand. The gun in Al's hand instantly targeted his head. Marshall slowed his movements. His wand wasn't encased in metal like the other Cleric's. It was a simple, short dark wooden one, like he had seen a thousand times before at Hogwarts.
Marshall gave it a flick and suddenly the sound of moving rock filled the hall. The stone ground in front of Al, moved aside like a giant sliding door. From the floor, a platform began to rise up. It had a large computer with a glass monitor attached to it that sat on a desk. The few pieces of technology looked very out of place, considering the rest of the Temple was made of solid rock.
Just in front of the computer, what looked like a massive TV screen laid on it's back was spread on the ground. It automatically began projecting a holographic image of the earth.
Albus surveyed the scene for a second then chuckled lightly. "That's it? That's you magnificent 'Machine'?" He made air quotes for the word Machine.
"No,"Marshall admitted, giving his wand another flick.
More sounds of moving rock were heard but this time, nothing raised out of the ground. Another stone cover slid away from the floor, this time revealing a chamber beneath it.
Albus peered over the side.
The Machine Core had to be a mile deep! With shafts working like slow moving grinder blades endlessly spinning. Golden electricity was randomly ricocheting from one shaft to another and there was a low but steady hum.
"Huh...you really are one step short of becoming a Bond villain, aren't ya?"
He pulled the spare grenade from his back pocket and smiled. "Well...," He pulled the pin. "Maybe 2 steps,"
He dropped the live explosive into the shaft and flicked his hand. The stone cover moved back over covering the core. A second later the entire Temple rumbled and small bursts of dust fell from the ceiling.
The computer platform, including the holographic Earth suddenly went dead.
Marshall sighed.
"One down," He grinned. "One to go," Albus again raised the gun, pointing it at Marshall's head. "Where is the Prophecy?"
Marshall dropped his wand and raised his hands, trying to be as non-threatening as possible. "Albus...please, listen to me. Remember your father...,"
"Black hair, green eyes, lightning bolt scar on his forehead? Yeah, I remember him, why?"
"How did he get that scar, Albus?"
"Voldemort tried to kill him when he was a -"
"And why did he try and kill him?" Marshall interrupted.
Albus knew what he was talking about.
"When he heard the Prophecy, he started a chain reaction of events that led to it being for filled! What if you do the same?"
"It won't mean shit because that Prophecy isn't about me!"
"I wish it weren't!"
"Well, let's go have a look see!"
Albus walked over the sealed stone floor that covered the destroyed Machine Core and grabbed Marshall. He stuck the gun against his temple and thumbed back the hammer.
"Your gonna show me where it is or I'm going to shot you and tear this place apart until I find it, your choice!"
Marshall was defeated. "That way," He nodded towards a door to his left.
Albus pushed him towards it and opened the door.
Inside, there was an eerie blue light the emanated from the center of the room. Some kind of cylinder made of energy began at the floor and ended at the roof. Inside it was a small brown box, floating lazily.
Albus picked up a stone from the floor and threw it at the barrier. It was instantly disintegrated on impact.
"I can't deactivate that. It need 3 people to shut it down," Marshall said honestly.
"Yeah well...," Albus approached the energy barrier. "I bet when you were building this thing...you didn't take gravity into account," Albus outstretched his arm and focused created a field around the box.
It stopped spinning and floated through the barrier without damage, into Al's hand.
"Albus...that box...it's Pandora's Box! You read what's inside it and everything you care about will be destroyed!" Marshall was panicking.
"Again with the Greek mythology! You were a history student weren't you?"
"I'm serious Albus!"
"If you were so serious, why show me the Machine? Why tell me where this was in the first place?"
"Because I hoped that you would see sense!" He meant it. "I was planning to offer you the Machine, in exchange for leaving the Prophecy alone! For taking Aurora and disappearing!"
Albus shoved the gun back in his face. "Say her name again!" He threatened.
Marshall didn't speak. He shoved him back into the main hall.
"Albus, if you want her to live...you will never look at what's in that box!"
Albus laughed. "I'm not going to look at it...this is my insurance! You ever come near me and mine again, I'll make sure that this gets on every TV, radio and wireless on the planet! I'll post it on the fucking Internet myself!"
Marshall has sweat rolling of his forehead. He had failed. "So now your going to kill me."
Albus pushed the mussel harder into Marshall head, Then...
He lowered it. "No, I'm not."
Marshall, confused turned to look Al in the eye.
"My kind, even I have spent all this time thinking that you people are some kind of bogeymen. Ready to jump out at us from the shadows. But your not. Your just...human. Weak and afraid. That's why we're better than you...,"
Marshall still didn't understand. He was sure that the bullet lock in the chamber had his name on it.
"I meant what I said. I so much a get a whiff of you people and not only will I see what's in the box, but the rest of the world will too. Then, I'll kill your friends, your families, everyone you've even known! I will burn your world now!" He flashed the box in his face. "You stay away, this stays closed -"
BANG!
The Box was blasted from his hand as spell and gun fire was being thrown at him from all directions. The troops were back!
Marshall ducked down into the Prophecy room as Albus returned fire. Spells and bullets ricocheted off his shield and slammed into the space around him. He searched around and spotted the box. It had it's entire top portion burned away from being hit by the spell.
He outstretched his arm and the box flew into his hand.
More fire came his way as he squeezed off the last few rounds in the gun. It clicked empty.
He dropped the empty weapon and pulled the automatic pistol from his trousers. He gun sprayed the room with 3-4 round bursts.
Just as it did, the door flashed inside his mind. It felt so close.
Albus knew what he had to do. He ran and top speed, back towards the door he had come through. He bolted through the corridor, past the armory until he found the one he was looking for. The Port Key room.
He shot inside and over to the cupboard, opened it and grabbed the first Port Key he saw. With a blast of blue light, he disappeared.
After what felt like being underwater and caught in the wake of a strong wave, his feet hit solid ground.
He shook the cobwebs from his head. "Never again! I'm sticking to flying!"
Instantly he felt hot air on his face and could here excitement and people around him. He picked him self up off the ground and looked up to see that he was standing directly in front of the MGM Grand Hotel in the gambling capital of the world.
"Well, Viva Las Vegas,"
He felt strangely satisfied, after all, what he had just done, was one hell of a gamble. He didn't even bother to check if he was being watched. With the damaged box clutched tightly in his hand, he blasted himself into the air.