Chapter Thirty Six: Bloodshed.
Before Dumbledore could react, a blast of blue light struck him in the chest. He was lifted off the ground and he smashed hard into a table. He managed to brace most of his impact but it was still not a pleasant way to go down. Dumbledore turned over, his fingers going numb for the briefest of seconds, before he gets to his feet to see Downfall. A blast of green fire was sent towards Dumbledore. Dumbledore deflected the attacks, freezing them and sending the frozen ice to the ground. The masked figure stood there, unimpressed, before Dumbledore send a magically simulated gust of wind towards Downfall. The wind blew towards Downfall, but the robes only moved slightly, not even backing Downfall slightly.
"Pathetic, is that the best the great and powerful Albus Dumbledore could give me?" asked Downfall and a huge blast sent Dumbledore backwards. Dumbledore crashed down to the ground again, wincing as his arm was cut. He had never fought anything like this Downfall before, for the briefest second, Dumbledore wondered if the rumors were true. Maybe Downfall was not human. He shook his head, as he got to his feet, blood dripping from his forearm.
"Your type of magic can never triumph in the long run," said Dumbledore as he whipped his hand and transfigured a chair slightly, causing it to stampede towards Downfall. The chair moved towards Downfall, gaining a great deal of momentum, before it smashed into the masked vigilante. The chair busted into splinters but Downfall remained standing, as if the vigilante was not affected at all. Dumbledore sent a stunning spell at Downfall, in a futile attempt to stop the mysterious figure. The spell bounced off of Downfall, as the vigilante stood there, before a large spike propelled right towards Dumbledore. A stone shield appeared in front of Dumbledore and the spike stuck it with a solid crash. The stone was cracked and Dumbledore was knocked steps back, to see Downfall standing behind him. Dumbledore was hoisted up into the ground and he winced, as he landed right on his leg. He felt his right hip shatter on impact.
"Fool, you thought you could stop me from doing what was necessary," said Downfall as the vigilante looked at Montague, who had attempted to make a get away, but failed due to the fact of having two broken legs and a broken arm. Downfall whipped the wand forward and a black jet of light struck Montague right in the chest. It began to dissolve his internal organs to ooze. Dumbledore struggled up to his feet.
"I understand your anger towards the Death Eaters, but this is not the answer, this is far from the answer, they must serve time in Azkaban, give them time to think of the severity of their actions and offer a door for redemption," said Dumbledore but Downfall just sent another attack towards Dumbledore.
"Redemption, the crutch for optimistic fools, I offer swift, permanent justice for the scum who preys upon the innocent," snarled Downfall roughly as a vicious attack was sent right towards Dumbledore. Dumbledore dodged the attack. "You keep fighting a futile fight and you endanger more then you help."
Dumbledore was struck down by an attack that was similar to getting punched in the face. Once again, the experienced wizard was dropped by his seemingly invulnerable foe. Dumbledore rolled over onto the ground, as Downfall appeared to wait for him to get up.
"On your feet, I want to defeat you when standing," said Downfall but Dumbledore twisted his wand. Several thick ropes flew out and for a brief second, Dumbledore thought it had worked as the ropes wrapped around Downfall. Only for that brief second, as the ropes torn to shreds, with Downfall standing there and another blast sent razor wire. This was far from the harmless ropes that Dumbledore sent. Dumbledore sliced the wire just seconds before it would have cut into him. Two more spells, that Dumbledore barely, by the skin of his teeth, evaded. It was beginning to sink in he was not as young as he used to be. He was every bit of resourceful as he always was and he needed to wait for Downfall to make a mistake, perhaps he could goad the vigilante into making a foolish mistake that he could capitalize on.
"With your abilities, you would be better served on the right side, you could be an asset," responded Dumbledore as he dodged a second blast of fire.
"You egomaniac old fool, I am on the right side, I've done more to fight the Death Eaters than you ever bothered to do and the world would not be in the position they in if it wasn't for you, you're pathetic, you're no better than Voldemort," responded Downfall as several more spells were shot towards Dumbledore, it was obvious that Dumbledore was being worn down slowly and Downfall took great pleasure in showing up. "Your time has passed Dumbledore. You should have just crawled in a hole and died peacefully when you had a chance."
Another high impact banishing charm knocked Dumbledore to the ground. Dumbledore rolled over, gritting his teeth, almost looking apologetic at what he needed to do to stop this menace before it became too much of a problem. Dumbledore reared his arm back before he jabbed his wand. A large blast of magic rocked the entire Hog's Head and sent shockwaves throughout Hogsmeade, even towards Hogwarts and the Forbidden Forest. Downfall was blasted down to the ground, as if the masked figure was hit with an entire convoy of trucks. It was powerful, nearly dark magic, the type that Dumbledore vowed to never use again and a part of him hated Downfall for forcing him to bring that spell out of the mothballs.
Dumbledore looked down at the downed Downfall, heavily breathing, as he held onto the wall to stand himself up. He took a step forward but Dumbledore's eyes widened in shock as Downfall sat up, before the masked figure rose to a standing position and stared down Dumbledore.
"You will regret not using a Killing Curse, Dumbledore," responded Downfall coldly, as a concealed dart was removed from the silver glove. The dart was shot at Dumbledore at the speed of light and impacted the shoulder. Dumbledore winced as he dropped to his knees. He felt his limbs go weak. "That won't kill you Dumbledore, although by all rights it should. Rest assure, your demise will come when its time."
"Just who are you?" asked Dumbledore weakly, as he looked up at this mysterious figure, while thinking the one good thing about being paralyzed
"I'm what you don't have the guts to be," responded Downfall crisply, and Dumbledore looked up a few seconds later. Downfall was gone, without any noise.
"We need to get you out of here, Albus, the Aurors are on the way," said Aberforth with a barely suppressed smirk as he walked from the back room where he was enjoying the show for a safe distance.
"They're here now, my side pocket has a Portkey to a safe house, it can't reach it, contact Severus immediately once I'm to a safe place," said Albus in a delirious voice and Aberforth nodded, as he quickly removed the Portkey, before shoving it in his brother's hand. Seconds later, Albus disappeared as the Aurors broke down the doors, as Aberforth turned to face them.
"I'm afraid they managed to get away," said Aberforth as he could see both frustration and a resigned look on the face of Rufus Scrimgeour. Once again, Downfall had eluded the Ministry of Magic and not only that, Dumbledore as well. Minister Bones was very interested in what Dumbledore was up to, as it was becoming increasingly difficult to keep tabs on the old man after he had disappeared from the public eye. It was almost certain that he was up to something and that was enough with full approval of the Wizengamot to have him visit the Ministry for a chat.
-
"Dumbledore tried to stop Downfall," said Daphne in amusement the next day, as she and Susan had walked to the Room of Requirement after a brief prefect meeting.
"Failed dismally from what I heard," added Susan. "I don't know, there was no one in that bar, I think most of the people cleared out rather quickly when Downfall showed up."
"Of course they would, it's obvious that they did not want anything to do with the individual underneath that mask or the mask itself to be honest," added Daphne with a grin. "The word is that Dumbledore might have bit off a bit more than he could chew this time."
"Well it serves him right for sticking his nose where it doesn't belong," said a calm voice and Daphne and Susan turned around to see Harry and Ginny standing right there.
"I do hate it when you two do that," remarked Daphne dryly.
"No witnesses for that battle but there's enough talk going on about what happened," said Ginny.
"You mean the fact that Downfall walked out and Dumbledore had to be helped out," responded Harry with a smirk. "At least that's what I assume happened."
"That's a pretty good assumption, Harry," said Ginny with a smile. "Shame he's not dead."
"In due time, in due time," responded Harry calmly. "Still our latest Wizengamot pretty much showed the true colors of a lot of representatives. You'd think people would be a bit more hesitant to take such a bold stance against something that is meant to deal with the forces dim enough to disfigure their forearms with an ugly mark. That could be hazardous to their ability to stay alive."
"There's always someone Harry, they never learn," answered Daphne as she shook her head before Harry consulted his watch.
"I have to be back to my office until I have to head up to Transfiguration, just in case someone has any questions about my class or Snape comes barging in saying how I ruthlessly pick on his Slytherins," said Harry.
"I'll tag along, I don't have another class until next period," responded Ginny.
"Well I guess I'm not going to get any work done," said Harry with a smile as they both laughed, before they used the Marauder's Map to take the shortest path to Harry's office.
-
"To your feet, Severus," ordered Voldemort as Snape knelt before him. "What do you have to report to be about the rumors that have reached me about a confrontation between Dumbledore and Downfall."
"The rumors are true, my Lord, I just met with Dumbledore, he appeared to be rather shaken up and had a serious set of injuries, if others were not hovering around it would have been the perfect opportunity for me to kill him," responded Snape even though this was a lie as no one was there but him and Dumbledore but Voldemort just raised his wand, threateningly.
"Fool, you should have killed Dumbledore regardless who was there, you may have just squandered a perfect opportunity," responded Voldemort in disgust and Snape quickly managed to respond.
"Don't worry, my Lord, I have a plan to carry out your task that can't fail," responded Snape in an attempt to pacify the Dark Lord before he started throwing Unforgiveable Curses.
"It had best work for your sake, Snape, you have failed me once to often, if it was not for the quality of your information, you would not be standing before me," responded Voldemort coldly. "More have fallen to this Downfall menace. Normally I'd obliterate the person under the mask in an instant, but Potter is rather resourceful in keeping several steps ahead and not leaving himself open to attacks."
"I'm certain a mere teenager could not cause you such trouble, my Lord, there is no conceivable way that an average wizard like Potter could be Downfall," said Snape but this was the wrong thing to say.
"Crucio," responded Voldemort coldly as he raised his wand and Snape screamed in agony as he hit the ground. He saw the humorless stare, the icy cold eyes of the Dark Lord, as he took great pleasure in torturing Snape. Snape's limbs twitched involuntarily as Voldemort looked down at him maliciously, a cold, disturbed look on the face of the most dangerous dark wizard in the last century. "Do not ever question me again Severus or you will find yourself paying a very fatal price. Do I make myself clear, Severus?"
"Yes, my Lord," said Snape as he tried to avoid looking even weaker by coughing up blood as he struggled to his feet.
"Good now depart from my sight," responded Voldemort coldly as he walked out and Lucius Malfoy walked in to face Voldemort. "Ah Lucius, I'm pleased to see you on such a short notice. I have a matter of grave importance to discuss with you."
"Anything to please the Dark Lord," responded Lucius with a bow and Voldemort just remained cold, rather indifference to Lucius's blatant pandering.
"I'm certain, we do have a problem, Downfall, a mild thorn in our side at first, but Death Eaters are getting knocked out right and left, there are even more people who might have joined us without question earlier, who have defied me and refused to join our ranks because the fear of this masked nuisance has been put in them," said Voldemort. "As much as I hate to admit it, Downfall battled me to a stalemate and just earlier, Severus informed me that he defeated Dumbledore in a duel, leaving him worse for wear. Given the number of Death Eaters he's effortlessly killed and the fact he defeated a fully transformed werewolf, I'm very disturbed."
"You are still certain it is Potter, my Lord," said Lucius carefully and Voldemort turned before he nodded. "Forgive me for asking, but what reason might Potter have for attacking Dumbledore. I was under the impression they were rather close."
"To throw people off his trail obviously," responded Voldemort calmly without even missing a beat. "Dumbledore's in on this, if Downfall wasn't Potter, Dumbledore would have died. No question about it. You don't have Albus Dumbledore on the cusp of death and let him go, unless it was something that he arranged."
Lucius just responded with a calm nod. It was best to just agree with the Dark Lord. Something told Lucius that there was a chance that the Dark Lord was partially right, but also wrong as well. Downfall might not be Potter, but Potter might be connected to the vigilante in some way. Obviously there was no way to know for certain and the elder Malfoy would be a fool along with a liar to say he was not looking over his shoulder.
"Lucius, do you think some sixteen year old fluke in a mask is more terrifying than Lord Voldemort?" asked Voldemort calmly and Lucius shook his head. "Then why do you, cower in fear, do not lie to me Lucius, I see it in your eyes. You fear for your life, you fear the wrath of Downfall, yet you had no fear when you recklessly threw my prized possession, my diary, that I entrusted to you in harm's way and got it destroyed. Do you think Potter is more powerful than me?"
"No absolutely not my Lord," said Lucius with both conviction and fear, out of the fact that he thought the Dark Lord might be losing his mind because of this entire Downfall mess.
"Yet, you fear Downfall, perhaps you doubt that I'm correct in Potter is underneath the mask," said Voldemort softly and Lucius shook his head frantically. "You are nothing but a spineless fool Lucius, without your gold and your influences; you would not last five minutes in the real world. That much is certain. You are pathetic Lucius, you admit that, correct?"
"Yes, my Lord," said Lucius dully, who wondered briefly why he put up with such abuse from a wizard who was not pureblood. Then he remembered, the Dark Lord would slowly torture him and then kill him if he tried any rebellion. Death Eaters tried in the past to defy the Dark Lord, Regulus Black being the most notable example and they paid.
"Good, Severus is already entrusted with the task of finishing off Dumbledore as payment for his failures, you Lucius, will have the pleasure of dealing with Downfall," said Voldemort calmly. "Despite offering a sizeable amount of gold, all of my Death Eaters have folded like a house of cards against Downfall. It's now your problem. Hire someone who might be competent or perhaps summon up a spine to do the job yourself. Bring me Downfall, mutilated, knocked out, stun, just bring him alive and I will remove the mask, to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that Harry Potter is underneath. This is your last chance to redeem yourself Lucius and should you fail, you will serve as a textbook example of what happens to those who fail Lord Voldemort. Is that clear?"
"Yes, My Lord, I live to serve you," said Lucius, struggling not to have his voice sound strained or forced as he looked down the Dark Lord.
"Good, I knew you would see this my way, but a word of warning Lucius," responded Voldemort in a low voice, as he looked at Lucius, who looked back, as time seemed to stand still. "Try anything like attempting to flee and your wife and son will replace you in serving as an example."
Lucius nodded, with a resigned look on his face, when he realized what the deal was. The Dark Lord had assigned him the ultimate suicide mission. Defeat Downfall or suffer the consequences.
Lord Voldemort watched Lucius leave. Despite the damage that was done, he still had an army of dark creatures, including the Dementors which was his most valuable asset, something that not even Potter had the ability to defeat. Still, there could be something done to put the fear of Lord Voldemort back in the Wizarding World and plans were already forming in his mind.
The Wizarding World would learn what true fear was once Voldemort got done with them.
-
"Potter, what in the devil do you think you're doing?" asked Snape as he barged in Harry's office. Harry sat at his desk, calmly looking back at Snape.
"Sitting in my office, minding my own business, until you saw it fit to barge in without even knocking," said Harry as he rolled his eyes, it was Halloween, the fifteenth anniversary of that night and Snape just served as an ugly reminder to that.
"Malfoy, you put him in detention every night for thirty days," responded Snape. "It's a blatant abuse of power…"
"What punishing someone for hexing a first year student just because she looked at him the wrong way is an abuse of power?" asked Harry calmly. "The little twit's lucky he isn't expelled and you're lucky you're not fired."
"Perhaps I should just resign, Potter," said Snape in an attempt to call Potter's bluff even though he knew it would not happen. Both the Dark Lord and Dumbledore would be most displeased if they lost their main source of information within Hogwarts and Snape quite frankly valued his life.
"We both know you aren't in a position to do that," remarked Harry with a smile as he looked Snape in the eye. "I think there are a few people in this school who think they can get away with murder. I don't know what gave them this attitude, it's mostly your Slytherins but I would foolish to admit the other houses don't have their share of disruptive little problems. Even Gryffindor, actually especially Gryffindor, they are far from innocent in everything, with their attitude that all Slytherins are evil."
Snape stopped himself, he had almost agreed with Potter.
"As for Malfoy and his little gang of sycophants, I hate Malfoy about as much as you hated my father, Snape," added Harry. "However unlike you, I don't take out my dislike on people for no good reason. I've let Malfoy get away with lot, perhaps I could be accused of being soft. The thing is, he's stopped short of causing true injury and he's nothing but a overblown loudmouth. But you can bet on one thing, the moment Draco or anyone else puts someone's life in danger, they will be bounced from this school with their broken wand shoved up a very uncomfortable place. I'm the law in Hogwarts and I will maintain order. Including with certain teachers who abuse the privileges they have been granted. Which brings you to the results of your monthly performance review?"
"What monthly performance review, Potter?" asked Snape.
"The one I have to give to teachers who are put on probation, surely you didn't think that was going to be swept under the rug," said Harry and Snape did not respond. It was evident that he though he was done with this entire Inquisitor business when Umbridge was gone. "It's something that's long overdue and I didn't do this without the consent of the Headmistress."
"Just spit it out already Potter," said Snape in an irritated voice.
"Well, I've reviewed the points you've taken and given along detentions you've given over the past several years. Obviously, you could guess what I've found, the fact that you've contributed to the hatred that Gryffindors have towards Slytherins more than anyone else ever had," responded Harry. "Therefore, I'm afraid you no longer have the privilege to give or take points and put people in detentions without the consent of the Hogwarts Headmistress or High Inquisitor. I feel this is more than fair, given your past performance. However, you better have really good and fair reasons when you come to either of us."
"You think you're something special, don't you Potter?" asked Snape and Harry just responded with a smirk. He knew why Snape was annoyed, Harry was handpicked as Dumbledore's successor, while being lead through by the hand, at least from Snape's point of view, while the Death Eater put his life on the line every night. "You're just an arrogant little boy who would have met his end a long time ago if it had not been for sheer luck."
"And you're just a greasy Death Eater who could meet his downfall if it doesn't watch his tongue around certain people," responded Harry but Snape just turned, obviously not bothering to listen to one word Harry was saying. He could tell Dumbledore but he had long since learned that it would do no good. Everything that Snape would try to tell Dumbledore something about his golden boy, it would pass over his head.
-
"A couple more Wizengamot representatives fell to deaths, believed to be the work of the masked vigilante known as Downfall, many well respected purebloods fear for their lives," read Ginny from the latest addition of the Daily Prophet.
"Well they have nothing to fear, unless they are a Death Eater," said Lily, as she sat there, Harry had brought her back out using the Resurrection Stone for some advise on a couple of spell modifications that would serve well against Death Eaters. She enjoyed being out, it was rather boring to just observe everything around her.
"Yes, a few people dropping dead, I'm surprised no one has tied to the fact that no one has seen that it was people who voted down the Dark Mark detection bill," responded Harry.
"Well I'm sure those members of the Wizengamot are looking over their shoulder at the very least," responded Ginny.
"So how's the D.A. going?" asked Harry, who had been unable to stop by within the past couple of weeks, due to his schedule between going to classes, teaching classes, his occasional "lessons" with Dumbledore and Wizengamot obligations. He had not had much of a chance to ask Ginny about it either, due to them being preoccupied with other activities when they were together.
"It's great, everyone's really improving this year, the new recruits are really picking up the spells really well and should be able to be put with the regular group soon," responded Ginny.
"Excellent, all of you have done well it sounds like; I should be able to pop in now and again," said Harry. "Dumbledore's lessons…those are less productive that what you're doing with the D.A. I'm just glad that I'm not relying on him for anything that I can use, even if it is a bit boring to learn stuff that I already know."
"Tell me about it, how does Dumbledore think you're going to defeat Voldemort anyway?" asked Lily as she shook her head. "I can't wait until you kill him, he really has no clue about anything."
"In time, not a moment sooner," responded Harry casually. "Fifteen years ago, today, I can't believe it's been that long."
"Yes, and they just have to celebrate it, celebrate nothing," added Ginny, with a slight frown. "Voldemort's been back for about six months, maybe longer, officially according to the Ministry and they still are celebrating a defeat that no longer happened."
"What do you expect, it's the Wizarding World, anything to have a feast," said Harry. "At least the food was good."
"It always is at Hogwarts, the house elves are really great at what they do," answered Lily, who was just reminded of another one of her pet peeves about Hermione, when she tried that stupid crusade to attempt to free the house elves, not even bothering to understand. House elves were made to work, that was their purpose. Now the types that abused house elves to make themselves look better, they deserved to have their house elves taken away from them. However, house elves lived to work, to cook, clean, and serve their masters and when Hermione started that stupid experiment, it just showed how ignorant Hermione was.
Also all of the times that Lily heard Hermione compared to her when she was a student, had made her physically ill. The only thing that was similar was their blood and that was it. Hermione was nothing but an egotistical, overbearing, insufferable know it all who took her friends for granted and couldn't even handle a few lower powered dark arts spells without losing her mind. Lily admired her son, because he was showing an extraordinary amount of patience in dealing with Hermione. Had she been in that position, Hermione would be thrown into Azkaban, where she would not have survived the night. Of course Harry did have his reasons for what he was doing, so Lily could not blame her son too much.
"Riddle's been quite lately," said Harry.
"I know, you'd think he's up to something because there haven't been that many attacks recently," offered Ginny and Harry nodded in agreement.
"I still think it's just leading up to something dangerous, but whatever it is, we'll be ready for it," responded Harry.
"We always are," responded Ginny as she curled up next to Harry to continue their work before they called it a night. There was still much that needed to be done.
-
Dolores Umbridge sat in her cell in Azkaban. She had been forgotten more or less ever since she had been sent to Azkaban. She was glad for what was going on in the world; it would allow her to remain in Azkaban, more or less beneath the notice of most people who would like to gain revenge on her. She had to admit, she did step on some rather important toes to get where she was. Once the Fudge administration crumbled, most of everyone was either reassigned or terminated from the Ministry. Fudge had apparently fled the country in disgrace after resigning and after her ill advised attempt to attack Potter, she was incarcerated in Azkaban which without the Dementors, it was not all that bad of an accommodation.
"Dolores Umbridge," said a ghostly voice and Umbridge looked around suddenly. Perhaps it was the lack of quality food playing tricks on her mind but she could have sworn she heard footsteps inside her cell. She tried to lay down on the cot to ignore it but a jet of yellow light shot around her, setting the cot on fire. Umbridge's eyes positioned up before she had seen a figure. Rumors were heard in Azkaban much like any other place. She had heard of the mysterious, illusive Downfall and right now she was face to face with the nightmare of many Death Eaters.
"You!" shouted Umbridge as she turned. "GUARDS! GUARDS!"
"They cannot hear your screams, Dolores Umbridge," responded Downfall calmly as the masked figure approached Umbridge. Umbridge's hands were shaking, without her wand, she was nothing. "You cannot escape your ultimate fate. I have not forgotten about what you have done and much like the Death Eaters, you will be punished."
"No, stay away from me!" shrieked Umbridge as she attempted to slam her fists onto the stone wall of her cell, doing anything to break it but this did not work. Downfall advanced on Umbridge with malicious intentions as she cowered against the wall "What are you? WHO ARE YOU? YOU CAN'T GET AWAY WITH THIS!"
Downfall did not respond but rather pulled out a quill. Not just any quill, it was similar to the one that Dolores had used to punish students during her time in Hogwarts last year.
"You must not question your betters, Dolores," responded Downfall coldly as the quill was shot right into Umbridge's neck. The quill impaled itself right into one of Umbridge's arteries immediately, causing her to collapse to the ground. Umbridge's limbs twitched violently as Downfall stepped back, blood splashing to the ground. Downfall blasted the cell doors opened and rolled Umbridge's corpse into the corridor, where the Auror guards could easily find her. "Another mess made by the Ministry cleaned up."
Without another word, Downfall was gone and Dolores Umbridge had met a disturbing, yet, fitting, demise.
And that's as good of a place to end this chapter as any, I suppose. Next chapter, we bridge the gap between Halloween and Christmas. We have a bunch of little scenes involving some characters who have not gotten too much screen time recently, a bit of fluff, and perhaps some mindless violence. Fun for the entire family! :)