"I'm going with you." Filius' gruff voice stopped her as Hermione stood just on the edge of the wards – the Forbidden Forest looming ahead of her.

"Filius!" Hermione turned sharply. "What in Merlin's name are you doing here!"

"Magnus told me what you are doing – and why." Filius insisted and as he stepped closer she could see he was dressed in dark battle robes, the moonlight seeming to slide over the slick potion imbued dragonhide. "He knows that he is needed here, in case we don't return. But he could not allow you to go alone."

"I'm not likely to return alive and if you go with me, it's likely you'll meet the same nasty end." Hermione warned, stepping into the light herself so he could see the battle scared robes she'd hoped to never wear again. The slick dragonhide trousers and jacket were too modern for the time, but she'd had no excuse or means to replace them with more era appropriate garb and they would serve the purpose she had in mind well. "And I'm going to be doing more than crossing a legal line, Filius. I will be obliterating it. I will hold nothing back. I do not take prisoners and I do not offer second chances to my enemies. I am merciless and efficient and I will not stop if you fall behind. I cannot stop. Albus' life is more important than mine or yours."

"I understand." The half-goblin replied, grim determination marking his expression. "I've been that man's friend for many years and if it's true, and Grindelwald has him, then I will stand by you both in the battle I know is coming. If you give me the word I will have what there is of the Order here in a moment. They will stand with you."

"No." Hermione sighed heavily. "This is not the final battle, Filius. If we don't make it out, someone will still have to defeat Grindelwald and I fear…" She took a shaking breath. "I fear it will fall to Tom to do so if Albus dies. It will be like Harry repeating all over again." She whispered softly.

"Let me help you." Filius begged. "Hermione, I know you have trained for this and that you are a formidable witch. But you are just one witch – alone – against an unknown enemy. Please, let me accompany you."

Hermione closed her eyes in pain. "I wish I could turn you away, for your sake. But another wand means a better chance of getting Albus out alive."

"Where do we start?" He asked.

Hermione turned back towards the forest. "Follow me." She started into the wood and the two walked until they lost sight of the castle. When they came to a clearing Hermione sank to the ground and pulled out her bag and produced a silver bowl and a small vial.

"Blood magic." Filius whispered. "You mean to scry for him."

"Yes." Hermione poured three small drops of blood into the bowl. "I never expected to use it for this." She sighed regretfully, returning the vial to her bag. She looked up and frowned. "I warned you I wasn't going to be sticking to legal means. If you have a problem with this, now is the chance to return to the castle."

"No." Filius eyed the bowl critically. "I understand the uses of blood rituals and I recognize that not all are Dark. It was convenient to outlaw all blood magics rather than try and make distinctions that are often impossible. Just…be careful. Blood rites are always risky and they always have a price."

"I've done this before." Hermione stated grimly and pulled the Elder wand. She held it over the bowl and whispered a string of harsh guttural words and the bowl vibrated before filling slowly with a thick black fluid, the blood swirling to mix with it. She continued to chant, the words gaining in power as she worked. The fluid stilled and held as the cadence of the spell increased in speed. She lowered the wand to touch a series of runes on the lip of the bowl and it started to glow. The spell slowed and the words stretched until they felt as if they would continue forever. The surface of the liquid began a slow spiral as if being stirred by an invisible rod. Hermione's voice got softer and softer as she worked until the spell trialed off and she breathed the last word in a soundless exhale over the surface.

Images began to appear on the surface. At first they were distorted, a mix of seemingly meaningless shapes and figures. Hermione pocketed the wand and leaned over the bowl. Her eyes slipped closed and she held her hands out above it, palms down, her fingers forming a perfect triangle between them. She stayed suspended over the bowl, her closed eyes peering not at the flickering images but at something only she could see. Filius watched her eyes move rapidly behind her closed lids.

"Létta" She whispered and the images stopped, sinking down into the slowly swirling liquid like heavy smoke. Hermione picked the bowl up slowly, her eyes still closed, and brought it to her mouth. She drank it in large swallows and only when it was finally empty did she lower it and open her eyes. "I have his last location. I can't get a fix on his current position, but I expect that they've placed him inside some kind of magical suppression field."

Filius had to steady her as she rose to her feet and he frowned at her in concern. "What spell was that? I didn't recognize any of it."

"Viking." Hermione supplied, her face going pale and she clutched the small wizard's shoulder as the world spun alarmingly. "Give me a moment. The scrying water is a mild poison. It will take a moment for me to…" She fell down hard to her knees and then to her hands. She closed her eyes and panted, her throat working as she desperately tried not to vomit.

"Hermione!" Filius cried. "You drank poison!"

She shook her head and then moaned at the motion. She fumbled for a moment with her belt before pulling out a small potion vial and downing the contents. Slowly her color returned and she sat back on her heels and took several shuddering breaths.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to alarm you." She smiled apologetically as the small wizard stared at her in shock. "It's mildly poisonous. I had the antidote, but you have to wait 130 seconds before you can take it. It's a long 130 seconds."

She got back up onto her feet and grabbed the bowl. She shrank it and returned it to her purse. "I don't recommend trying that unless you've a qualified potion master on hand, by the way. The antidote is a personal recipe and you won't find it in any book. Without it, whoever does the scrying stays ill for days. It's not fatal, but you wish you were dead before it's over." She nodded as if coming to a decision. "If you're still going with me, we need to apparapate. I'll have to side-along you since I only have the magical signature of the place we are headed, not coordinates."

"Alright." Filius agreed and moved to take her hand. "Are we going directly into battle or somewhere discrete?"

"Discrete" Hermione answered but pulled her wand anyway. "I suggest remaining vigilant however."

"Agreed."

There was no sound of disapparition. Hermione channeled the magics that resided in the forest to increase the power of the spell so that it was silent. They landed in a small grove of trees outside a weathered estate. The house was old, clearly wizarding, but it had fallen on hard times. The gardens were overgrown and young saplings were growing up in what had been formal beds. The stones of the house were half covered in moss and lichen and the roof slate was chipped and mismatched. The gravel drive showed signs of continual use, though, so Hermione didn't think it had been abandoned.

"Where are we?" Filius whispered.

"Just outside Donegal." Hermione replied. "All I could get is a location. I have no idea what's in there."

"That I can help with." Filius closed his eyes and concentrated, drawing a series of complex wand forms in the air. "There are four wizards in there and two witches." He replied. At Hermione's questioning look he chuckled softly. "Old goblin trick. I'd tell you how to do it, but then I'd have to Obliviate you – and you wouldn't be able to do it anyway unless you've been hiding goblin blood in there somewhere- and you aren't that short."

"Thanks, I think." Hermione eyed the building critically. "I can sense several wards, but nothing I would classify as High Magic. Either they haven't the skill or they don't want to risk drawing attention to the place. The most complicated one I see is an anti-apparition barrier."

"Or they've got something subtler." Filius frowned and sniffed the air. "There's a hint of something here, growing stronger towards the house. My guess is they've permeated the ground around the structure with some kind of spellwork. It's likely pressure sensitive."

"Do you detect anything against animagi?" Hermione narrowed her eyes and made her own series of wand movements and muttered a few quiet spells. "I don't see anything."

"No…it looks clear. Most wizards don't expect animagi." He eyed her carefully. "I take it you are one."

Hermione nodded. "I'm going to go in for a closer look." She replied. "I promise I'll come back after I see what I can find."

Filius nodded and Hermione transformed. She flew up into the air and made her way towards the house on silent wings. Her black form blended into the night sky perfectly and she thanked Merlin once again that her form had taken on something as practical as a crow. While she'd always hated the lack of control that relying on a broom gave her, she loved having her own wings.

She circled the house twice before settling on a ledge to peer through a set of semi-sheer curtains. The room was empty but there were the remains of a dinner on the table and the stench of death floated out through the cracked glass. She cocked her head to get a better look and her feathers ruffled as she caught sight of the three dead that lay rotting on the carpet. Apparently the house had been occupied when Belby had appropriated it. They had left the family that owned it to decompose along with what remained of the dinner. By the look of it, they'd been there for several weeks.

Hermione took to the air again and flew off and away for a moment before circling back and going to the next window with shutters that weren't bared. She ducked to the side as she caught movement.

"How much longer do we have to hold him? He makes me nervous." An angry male voice bit out sharply.

"Until Lord Grindelwald arrives." A voice Hermione recognized as Belby responded. She sounded weary. "Besides, Dumbledore is secure. Even a wizard of his power isn't going to get out of that room. It soaks up magical energy like a sponge and siphons it back into the wards. Maeve may have been a mudblood, but she knew how to ward a dungeon. We're just lucky that when they built this house they kept the original underground intact."

"Shame we had to kill the kid. He was wicked on a broom. He would have been a fine quidditch player when he got to Hogwarts."

"Is that all you can think about?" Belby complained. "Honestly, we're plotting world domination, and you've got quidditch on the brain."

"Well pardon me for having a hobby." The other man replied gruffly. "It's not like we're doing anything other than hiding and casting that stupid spell of yours every three hours. It's blasted boring."

"That 'stupid spell' is the only thing preventing that Romanian nightmare and that Lestrange character from bringing the entire British Ministry down on our heads. Have a little respect. It's shear brilliance!"

"It's exhausting! And we're running out of children. Pretty soon we'll have to start apparating to London or the people around here will get suspicious." The mystery man sighed. "I mean, I'm all for torturing muggles, but even Arcturus is having trouble with some of the younger ones."

"The younger they are, the more their deaths disrupt the potentiality." Belby explained in a tired voice. "I keep telling you that, but you keep bringing back the older ones. Infants will give the spell greater longevity. We only have to keep recasting every few hours because you're bringing me near adults!"

"People expect kids that age to run away. They don't get nearly as jumpy, especially if we take 'em in pairs. The young ones? We'll have the whole of the island after us if we start snatching babes from cradles."

Hermione couldn't listen anymore and backed off the ledge. She circled once more but could find nothing to tell her where the other witch and the missing wizards were. If there were underground dungeons it was likely they were there. She flew back to Filius and transformed.

"What could you see?" He asked anxiously.

"Belby's up there with a wizard, I didn't get his name. He mentioned another of their accomplices, someone named Arcturus?"

"That would most likely be Arcturus Black. Rather an odd duck that one, even for the House of Black. The Order has suspected that he's working with Grindelwald, but we hadn't any proof." Filius eyed the house speculatively. "Did you hear any other names?"

"No. But I think they've got Albus in some kind of dungeon or subterranean building. Apparently this house was built over an older structure. She mentioned Maeve having constructed the room they are holding him in. The way she said it, I'm assuming she meant Queen Maeve."

"Maeve…" Filius frowned. "There's a legend that she had a magical void room that she used with difficult students to temporarily suppress their magic. This was before we had developed the kind of wand technology we have today and wild magics were still a very real problem. If we are standing on her old training grounds and the room is still intact it would make an excellent prison cell. Albus has never been without his magic. I doubt he'd have any idea at all how to manage an escape without it."

"We've got to get down there." Hermione pulled her wand and ran a series of exploratory spells down into the earth. "I'm not very good at this." She grumbled.

"Let me." Filius replied, repeating the spell work with more complex wand movements. "There are times where being half-goblin is an advantage. Detection spells are something of a specialty." He worked quickly and intricately and soon a small map of the subterranean complex appeared in faintly glowing lines between them. "There's quite a lot of building down there. And here," he pointed to one dark spot near the center. "I'm not getting any magical imitations from that room. My guess is he's being held there but there's no way for me to pick anything up from inside since it's blocking all magic. I picked up several wizards in the room farthest away from the void – it probably makes them uneasy to be near to it. I sensed movement in the nearest room but without magical signature. Which means there's most likely several muggles being held as well unless they've got several large animals caged for some reason. I missed them earlier since I was only scanning for magical signatures."

"Whatever spell is causing the disruption to the lay lines is being fueled by human sacrifice." Hermione stated grimly. "The younger the sacrifice, the stronger the disruption. She's been abducting children from the towns surrounding here."

"Merlin." Filius shook his head sadly. "We have to get them out as well."

"We'll do what we can, but Albus is the first priority." Hermione drew a steading breath. "Filius, remember that I warned you I would do whatever I had to do to get Albus out. IF that means the muggles die, then they die. I won't endanger the mission for them."

The small wizard paled but nodded. "I understand." His voice was soft. "I think I can see a way in." He changed the subject and pointed to small off shoot of the map. "Here. There's a tunnel that opens up on the far side of the property. It's partially collapsed. I doubt they have it guarded. I know a few mining spells that should allow us to clear the blockage. I can't promise the tunnel ceiling will hold for long though. If we get in that way, I doubt we can go back out again."

"If we can get to Albus we can fight our way out. Right now it's just 6 of them and I doubt Belby's any good in a duel. But we need to move quickly. Grindelwald is on the way and I doubt any of us want to face him." Hermione paused for a moment. "Filius, I want you to know that no matter how this turns out, it was a honor to work with you these last few months, and without you I would be going in there blind. Thank you."

Filius shook his head. "You do not have to thank me, Hermione. Albus is very dear to me and I swore long ago that I would do whatever I could to ease his burden. You have been a most excellent student, and a good friend. And when this day is over, we shall be content and warm in our beds at Hogwarts and I will be able to look back on this as a grand adventure." He smiled. "Now, shall we get going? We've a wizard to rescue."

Hermione held him back with a firm grip on his arm. "Filius, I need you to promise me something. If I order you to go, you need to follow my command." Hermione's eyes glittered dangerously in the moonlight. "I have access to power reserves normal wizards don't, and I can fight nearly indefinitely without magical exhaustion. You don't have that option. If we get caught, it will be up to you to get Albus out. Do you understand?"

"You keep talking as if you know you won't make it out." Filius questioned. "What is it that you know that I don't?"

"It's just a feeling." Hermione eyed the house with clear distain. "I'm not saying I won't make it back, but I sense trouble coming. With their spell disrupting the lay currents I can't pin point what it is, but there's a critical turning point in time approaching rapidly and it will converge here – tonight. Albus must be taken safety back to Hogwarts. Of the three of us, I am the only one that does not belong in this time and this place – I am expendable. If you have a chance to grab him and apparate out, take it. I already told you I'd leave you behind if I had too. I expect the same from you. Understood?"

"Understood." Filius agreed, his face showing his displeasure with the situation but accepting the necessity.

They moved quickly and silently to the tunnel entrance that Filius had located and Hermione checked it for wards and found it unguarded. Either the occupants of the house did not know of it, or they assumed it was impassable. The entrance was hidden behind brambles and overgrown vegetation, and had Filius' goblin spell work not located it, Hermione would never have found it. The first part of the tunnel was clear and the going was relatively easily until they made the half way point. Here the tunnel walls were crumbling and large chunks of earth had fallen into their path. The passage narrowed until Hermione was forced to crawl on hand and knee. When they reached the blockage even Filius was stooped low.

The charms professor sat down on the ground and took a moment to collect himself. Hermione could feel his power pooling in his hands. He worked without wand, channeling magic in goblin fashion for several long minutes until he made a harsh motion and a guttural snarl in his people's language. His hands shot forwards as if shoving the rock away and the pile of debris exploded out of the way. Hermione barely withheld a shriek as she was sprayed with clods of dirt. The entire process was eerily silent and Hermione watched in fascination as the dirt seemed to absorb into the tunnel walls.

"Hurry. We haven't much time. The soil here is very unstable." Filius warned, grabbing her hand and hurrying her forward. His spell work had cleared the tunnel back to it's original height and Hermione stood and ran, Filius moving ahead of her at a dead run. She could feel a slight vibration in the earth and Filius cursed. He shoved her ahead and turned, raising his hands and sending a ball of magical energy up into the ceiling. "Run!" he yelled and Hermione did as told. She could hear the tunnel collapsing behind her and she choked as the air filled with dust.

When she reached the end of the tunnel she turned around. "Filius?" she called softly, extending her senses trying to see if she could feel the small man.

A soft cough answered her and a very dusty and rumpled Filius immerged from the cloud of debris. "Well, that was not my finest work." Filius grumbled, waving his wand to clean the worst of the dirt off his robes. "Father would be most upset with me. Tunnel stabilization is something of a basic art for goblins. I'm afraid I haven't practiced it since I was a boy."

"Well, I think you did marvelously." Hermione hugged him and Filius blushed softly. "They probably heard that racket." She turned to the tunnel exit and frowned.

"Several of the cave-in's looked recent." Filius' eyes narrowed. "They probably heard previous ones."

"Still, stay alert." Hermione advised. She motioned for silence and crept the last of the way on high alert.

The tunnel exit was behind a large moth eaten tapestry in a dank unlit corridor. Hermione scanned the hallway but could feel no magical emanations and Filius nodded his confirmation. He pointed to the left and Hermione nodded in thanks, trusting to his better since of direction underground.

They made their way cautiously forward until the flicker of a torch came into sight from around a blind corner. They crouched low against the wall and Hermione scanned the corridor for a hiding place. When none presented itself, she raised her wand and motioned Filius behind her.

She could sense only one wizard approaching and she looked to Filius for confirmation. He held up a single finger and she nodded. When the flickering light was nearly at the corner, Hermione tucked and rolled, shooting a silent Petrificus Totalus. She held her wand steady, waiting to see if her opponent would move and when several heartbeats had passed without a sign of life, she crept forward and confirmed that the spell had indeed taken hold. Filius came up behind her silently.

Hermione motioned for him to remain quiet and raised her fingers to her eyes and then up the corridor before pointing at him. He nodded and moved ahead a ways to keep look out. Hermione turned back to her felled opponent and stared down at the witch.

She was young, and fairly pretty. Her eyes were opened wide in shock and Hermione used that to her advantage. "Legilimens" she whispered, slipping into the witch's mind.

It was a brutal assault. Hermione had learned the skill from Severus and while it turned her stomach, she wasn't above using it when necessary. She sped through the young girl's mind, ripping the information she needed from her and ignoring the painful mental screams she left in her wake. She now knew the layout of the underground caverns and exactly where Albus and the muggles were located. Unfortunately, the girl knew next to nothing of Belby's plans or Grindelwald. She'd only joined with them to get closer to her lover and was given the most menial of tasks – such as checking on the latest tunnel collapse. Hermione glanced up at Filius when she was done and he looked back at her quickly. Hermione motioned for him to turn around and when he did, she cast a quick whispered "Avada Kedavra". Filius did not need to see her kill his former student. A flash of green and she was gone. Hermione flicked her wand again and transfigured the corpse and her torch into dust, which she quickly dispersed along the corridor. If anyone came looking, they wouldn't even find a body.

They moved forward. Hermione kept a weather eye out for more wizards, painfully aware that four more lurked somewhere near. The corridors were getting brighter and better kept as they moved and soon they came upon voices. There was an open doorway a hundred feet in front of them, light pouring out into the corridor. There was no way to get past it without the occupants having them in full view.

Hermione reached for a special compartment on her belt and pulled out a vial. Filius' eyes widened as he saw the splashing red liquid. Hermione nodded and he backed away to stand further down the corridor. Hermione crept forward silently and slid down to crouch next to the open door. There were several voices from inside and Hermione sent a silent thank you to whatever powers had placed the remaining wizards all in the same room. They sounded half drunk and she listened to them argue over their card game for several seconds. Holding the vial in one hand, and her wand in the other she gathered her energy.

In one smooth movement she rolled the vial into the room and sprang in front of the doorway. The occupants of the room looked up in shock and Hermione wasted no time pointing her wand at the vial and activating it with a well placed blast of magical energy, her momentum carrying her across the patch of light into safety on the other side.

The vial shattered and the contents of the potion sprayed out in a wide circle soaking everything inside the room. Hermione flicked her wand as quickly as she could, casting as strong of containment and silencing spells as she could manage. The screams from the four wizards cut off instantly and she peered around the doorway and watched as the room filed with a deadly red haze.

Filius cautiously approached and added his own set of containment spells to the doorway and watched in sick fascination as the smoke flashed ominous shades of burgundy before slowly sinking down to shift and wreath on the floor like a living thing. What little was visible of the wizards above the deadly fog was twisted, stripped of flesh and muscle.

Hermione pulled a second vial out of her pouch and hurled it through the containment field into the room. The vial broke as it landed on the stone floor and a blue mist rose out of it to cancel the deadly red. When the last of the fog had cleared they lowered the containment charms and the silencing spell. Hermione moved into the room and repeated her transfiguration and scattering of the corpses. She summoned the remains of the two vials and safely stowed them away in the belt pouch. She was never one to leave evidence.

The only trouble now would if Belby or the wizard from upstairs decided to venture down. If they did, it should take them some time to discover that the others were missing.

They came upon the muggles first. There were a half dozen, most no older than their early teens, and Hermione cringed. They were all locked into a warded cell together and were clearly beyond frightened. Filius moved forward, his wand raised to take down the wards and free them, but Hermione put a restraining hand on his arm.

"The wards – if we take them down, the other two will sense it." She whispered. "We must get Albus first. If there's time, we come back for them."

Filius looked torn and Hermione had to pull him after her to get him to move away from the children. She didn't mention the fact that they were too young and too scared to follow directions silently. If and when they retrieved them, they would need to either be Imperiused or heavily confounded to get them to obey.

The void room was at the heart of the underground complex and when they finally reached it, Hermione's heart sank. There were incredibly complex wards guarding it and they were all set to alert Belby at the tiniest disturbance. As soon as they started to take them down, the others would come running.

Filius' eyes hardened in understanding and they raised their wands simultaneously to attack the wards.

It took them several spells to break through and by the time the wards fell she could hear Belby screaming for her dead comrades through the corridor and the sound of running feet. Filius wrenched the door open and Hermione ducked inside. She staggered as her connection to the magical currents cut off and she had to bite her tongue to stop herself from passing out at the sudden cutting off of her powers. Albus was slumped on the far side of the room, unconscious, and she stumbled to his side. She had to physically drag him across the room, unable to lift his weight and without magical aid inside the suppression field.

Filius met her at the door and reached one shaky hand inside to help her haul him out. Hermione fell forward into the corridor and sucked in lungful's of air as if she'd been suffocating, her magical senses snapping back into life instantly. Her head pounded with the sensation and she wasted several precious seconds trying to calm her rolling stomach. Filius spent the time trying to resuscitate Albus.

Hermione finally pushed herself to her feet just as Albus groaned, his eyes blinking open. She reached into her belt and pulled out a spare wand and tossed it to him. "Come on." She hissed, clutching her head with one hand and the wall with the other. "We need to move. They'll be here any second."

Albus dazedly got to his feet, his face deadly pale and his hands shaking. The shouting and running footsteps were getting closer and Filius motioned for them to hurry. He took off down the corridor leading back to the muggles and Hermione had to help Albus as they hurriedly followed, his heavy weight leaning on her and slowing them down.

Filius had the wards down by the time they caught up with him and Hermione cursed under her breath. The frightened children were screaming and two had already started to make a break for it down the hall. She raised her wand and sent a quick set of Imperios after them and they halted. She did the same to the remaining three. Her magic was slower to respond than normal and she had to tap into the magical energies around her to make the spell work. Even the short time she'd spent inside the suppression field made everything seem like working through pudding.

"What in Merlin's name are you doing?" Albus' weak voice protested.

"If you want them to make it out alive, they need to do exactly as I tell them and I don't have time to ask nicely." Hermione replied bitterly. "Now come on." The eldest boy was fairly large for his age and she ordered him back to Albus' side to assist the wizard out of the building. The others she lined up behind them as they started moving up towards the entrance to the house. There was no way they could make it back out of the tunnel after the last collapse.

"You're using them as a human shield!" Albus protested. "Hermione," he started and she growled, cutting him off.

"Now is not the time Albus Dumbledore. Grindelwald is due to arrive any second and Belby and her accomplice are down here somewhere itching to kill us." Hermione flicked her wand and sent the ceiling behind them crashing to the ground blocking the passage.

"Filius, how much further?" she asked.

"Not far, just around the next bend. Take a right." The small wizard advised. They could hear Belby gaining on them as she frantically searched for her missing minions. The ceiling collapse bought them a little time as Belby cursed and had to circle back for another route.

They made it to the stairway out just as Belby rounded the corner. The woman had her wand drawn and she snarled as she caught sight of them. She sent a hasty killing curse aimed at Dumbledore. His eyes widened as he saw it coming but in his depleted state he wasn't fast enough to move out of the way. At the last second the arm of the muggle boy supporting him jerked out and caught the curse. He fell in a dead heap, knocking Albus to the ground with him. Albus stared in shock into the dead boys eyes and made a strange strangled sound.

Hermione couldn't spare him much thought. She sent an answering flash of green towards the arithmancy professor and growled in frustration as the witch dodged to the right, the spell flashing past her. The wizard she'd heard in the upstairs room joined the fight and Filius jumped into the duel with vigor.

The muggle children surrounded Albus and Hermione sent them orders to get the wizard up the staircase. Albus stared at them confused as the glassy eyed children helped him to his feet and started ushering him up the stairway. Albus raised a shaky wand and sent a few spells towards Belby and the other wizard, but he lacked aim and his unfamiliarity with the wand hampered him greatly. He tried to fight the children off, to remain behind, but there were enough of them that they managed to haul him bodily up the stairs.

Filius and Hermione managed to back slowly up the staircase laying down cover fire as Belby and her wizard attempted to follow. Filius brought he ceiling down once they were on the stairway and they could hear the two curse from the other side of the rubble.

"It won't stop them for long." Filius advised. "We need to move."

Hermione nodded and they quickly followed Albus and the children up into the house. There were anti-apparition wards on the manor itself. They needed to make it past the border of the wards to disapparate. Hermione blasted a hole in the wall and quickly ushered everyone out onto the grounds. They had barely made it 10 feet when a slow clapping caused her to turn.

Gellert Grindelwald stood between them and freedom. His long blond hair reflected the moonlight in an eerie halo around his head and his dark green cloak blended into the darkness making him seem to float. "Well done, Mrs. Dumbledore. Well done. I see Belby's appraisal of your skills was not unfounded."

Hermione tensed as she felt a blast of magical energy behind her signaling that Belby and the other wizard had managed to clear the blockage and were likely seconds away from making it up the stairway.

"Gellert." Albus pushed the child that was helping him away and stood shakily, raising his wand to point it at his once friend. Hermione could see his arm trebling with the effort from where she stood. "How nice to see you again."

"I had hoped we'd meet under more congenial circumstances." Gellert replied, his eyes softening slightly as he looked at his old friend. "I was hurt, Albus, when I didn't receive an invitation to your wedding."

"We had limited seating." Albus offered. "If I'd known you would be in England this weekend I'd have offered to meet you for dinner. No need for all this."

Gellert smiled wickedly. "Oh we both know that if your Order had known I'd be here, you'd have been serving that dinner in Azkaban – or at least attempting it. I thought I'd spare you the trouble and arrange a smaller more intimate meal. It really is a shame your wife and this half-breed had to crash the party."

Hermione moved between them and raised the Elder wand. "Filius." She said in a hard tone. They had perhaps seconds before Belby and the other wizard arrived.

Gellert started to laugh. "Dalca was it? I searched my records and could find no mention of you or your supposed freedom fighters. What lies have you used to ensnare him? What is your plan, little witch?"

"At the moment?" Hermione smiled grimly. "It's fairly simple." She hurled the strongest killing curse she could muster at Grindelwald's head. At the exact moment the spell left her wand, Filius and the muggle children rushed Albus and grabbed him. Grindelwald dodged to the right of the curse and rolled, answering her with a massive slashing hex that she deflected. Filius and the others ran for the edge of the wards. Hermione summoned power from the magical currents nearby and flung a blasting hex at the dark wizard.

Grindelwald deflected the hex and his eyes flickered to the retreating charms professor and company. Hermione wasted no time following up with a rapid burst of spell fire, hurling curse after curse at her opponent, crouching and rolling to maneuver him between her and the house yet away from Albus and the others. Grindelwald had no choice but to concentrate on her attack rather than stop the fleeing group. Hermione fought to regain her normal control of her magic, but the effects of the suppression field were still weighing her down and she was rapidly depleting her reserves. So much for near infinite power sources. she thought to herself as she fired another spell that came no where near her normal level. If she was having this much trouble, Albus had to be nearly useless.

There were pops of apparition from outside the wards and Hermione cursed as Grindelwald's supporters rallied to his aide. Not knowing what was happening they converged on her and she breathed a sigh of relief as she saw Filius and the others make it past the edge. She summoned more energy and cast the strongest shield charm she could in her current state, her mind and body flowing from one spell to another with more difficulty than she'd felt since becoming gwawr angau. Belby and the other wizard joined the group and Hermione did her best to keep the now dozen or so witches and wizards focused on her long enough for Filius and Albus to escape.

She could see them out of the corner of her eye. Albus was trying to argue with Filius but the small wizard shook his head grimly. He reached out with a steady hand to tug the weakened Albus closer and with a pop they were gone.

Hermione sent a silent command to the remaining muggles to run as far and as fast as they could. Her shield charm was failing under the constant barrage of spells from her multiple attackers and she let it drop rather than waste the energy. She took down two of her opponents before a burning hex hit her square in the back, the strength of it knocking her off her feet and the Elder wand flew from her hand.

She rolled, trying to reach it, when a heavy boot came down on her hand. She looked up, the pain in her back making her eyes water, to find Gellert Grindelwald staring down at her. He sent a blindingly powerful binding charm at her and she moaned as the ropes dug into her burns.

He reached down and picked up the Elder wand. His eyes widened as he realized what he held.

"The Elder Wand." He breathed. "Gregorovitch should have had it. I went to retrieve it, but he claimed it had disappeared without a trace." Grindelwald's eyes narrowed. "However did a nameless witch like you acquire the death stick?"

"I killed the last Master of Death for it." Hermione smirked, her arms squirming against her bonds despite her injuries. "It's a fickle thing, that wand. I should warn you."

Grindelwald laughed, the sound lighter and higher in pitch than Hermione usually associated with evil wizards. "If you killed the last Master of Death, that would mean you have in your possession all three of the hallows – and have gained that title yourself. And are about to loose it."

"Do you think I'm stupid enough to walk around with all of them on my person?" Hermione rolled her eyes. "Frankly, if I hadn't anticipated having to duel you, I wouldn't have even brought that bloody wand."

"I am eternally grateful that you did." Grindelwald sneered at her, pointing the wand at her. "However, I'm not nearly grateful enough to keep you alive. I can't risk transporting you back to Nurmengard and there is nowhere in Britain I can confine you. It is for the greater good, you know. I can't risk you interfering with my plans. And while Belby's little spell worked well enough, I'm not so ignorant as to realize the possible ramifications of destabilizing the magical currents too much."

"Glad to hear that at least." Hermione maintained eye contact, her Occlumency
shields firmly in place. "I've seen what messing about with them can do, Grindelwald. If you want to have a wizarding world left to rule, I suggest not repeating it."

Belby made a shocked sound of protest and Grindelwald held his hand up to silence her. "Mrs. Dumbledore is correct, my dear. Your spell is rather ingenious, but I fear that if you keep it up for long it will cause more damage than I find acceptable. We do want to accomplish our goals with a minimal amount of collateral damage to wizarding folk, you understand. Muggles are expendable. We are not."

"Naturally." Hermione agreed, her tone sarcastic. "Now, if you're done gloating, I'd appreciate a swift Avada over anything long and drawn out. I believe you owe me that common courtesy after our most excellent duel."

Grindelwald made a small mock bow. "Who am I disagree with a lady?" He raised the wand.

There was a sharp pop to the side and Hermione's eyes widened as she caught sight of Filius just outside the anti-apparition ward. He had something in his hand and with a harsh slash of his wand he sent it hurdling towards her just as the Elder wand burst forth a flash of brilliant green.