Chapter Thirty Seven: Encounters
Amelia Bones was a very busy woman since becoming Minister of Magic, especially recently. Death Eater attacks had been rather sporadic as of late, just a bunch of random attacks on Muggles and families who had obviously allied themselves against Voldemort. Nothing with too much of a rhyme or reason, this worried her more than anything. She had tried to limit her advisors to people that she knew she could trust, to prevent confidential plans on Ministry security specifications that can be used against them from being leaked. Mostly it was on a need to know basis, but still, she had managed to catch word of people knowing things that they should have been in no position to know. A great deal of time and energy had been put on a mass evacuation plan in the unfortunate event that Voldemort and his forces had stormed the Ministry. While it was horrifying to think of such a thing it was still a very real possibility.
"Minister Bones!" shouted a voice from outside of her office that caused her to spring up to her feet. She walked over to the door as a Junior Aide entered her office. "Head Auror Scrimgeour wants to see you immediately, there has been a security breach in Azkaban."
"Who broke out this time?" asked Amelia in a frustrated voice, it seems like there was Death Eaters being broken out every other week, just after they put them in. People were calling for stricter security measures and harsher punishments, to put Death Eaters down permanently. Unfortunately, there was an entire mountain of previous Ministry legislation to overturn, that would take years to do. For reasons like this was why this entire Downfall thing was happening in the first place. Most of it passed during the Cornelius Fudge administration but there was a fair amount of counterproductive legislation from before then as well.
"Actually no one broken out, someone broke in and it's…well I'll let Mr. Scrimgeour tell you," said the aide, her eyes widened and Amelia decided to walk out. All sorts of possibilities came to mind, but she would not think too much about it until she got the official word from Rufus. Amelia saw Rufus, who looked like he aged about ten years in the last few months, standing. "You have some information for me, regarding a security breach in Azkaban."
"I'm afraid so, Amelia," said Scrimgeour grimly. "It doesn't make sense, you would think there would be some trace, anything to give us a clue for the idenity of the person who broke in. The only thing I can find is that there is some circumstantial evidence that the security spells were nullified sometime between eleven thirty and eleven thirty two last night and again just before midnight, so…"
"Whoever broke in wasn't there for more than a half of an hour," concluded Amelia who was rather alarmed at the news she was being given. "Anything to tell us why this person broke inside?"
"I was just getting to that point, one of the prisoners was found dead, Dolores Umbridge," responded Scrimgeour. "She was stabbed in the throat by a blood quill. It impaled right in an artery in her neck. She was killed sometime in between the two times the two sets of break in times."
Amelia nodded, to be quite honest, she had her share of differences with Dolores Umbridge, mainly for the fact she tried to get around Ministry regulations and try to force though lopsided laws that would benefit her and no one else. So her death was not something that she would lose any sleep over. The more alarming issue of course was the fact that someone could breach the security spells around Azkaban with such ease. When Voldemort had done it, he had blown though the security spells with ease, almost as if he was alerting the Aurors around the island to his presence, daring them to come at him. And Amelia doubted very much that there was one Auror in the Ministry right now who could challenge Voldemort.
It appeared that the only person who could challenge him was the person who put Voldemort out of his body the first time around. Amelia hated herself for even thinking that all of the hopes of the Wizarding World rested on the shoulders of a young wizard who had not even finished Hogwarts. Capable yes, but still it spoke rather poorly of the Ministry of Magic.
"Look over Azkaban from every angle, see if you can find anything, anything at all, that might point towards who did this," ordered Amelia swiftly and Rufus nodded. They both had an idea that their vigilante problem might be behind this but naturally there was nothing connecting Downfall.
"I'll get right on it Amelia, I should have a full report on your desk as soon as possible," responded Scrimgeour and Amelia nodded, as they went there separate ways. At any rate, she had a meeting with the Department Heads within the next hour that she needed to prepare for. She valued their input, as it would be needed to present to the Wizengamot court for their next meeting, to get more detailed security around the Ministry of Magic.
-
At the Ravenclaw table in the early part of November, Luna was reading a letter, looking very distressed for some reason. Harry, Ginny, and Neville walked over, with concerned looks on their face.
"What's wrong Luna?" asked Ginny.
"Oh, it's just from Dad, he was attacked by Death Eaters, don't worry he's alright, I don't think they expected him to fight back," said Luna.
"Does he know why they attacked him?" asked Harry but Luna just shrugged.
"Something he wrote in the Quibbler, he's been doing a lot of articles criticizing Death Eaters lately," responded Luna. "Don't worry, it's nothing to do with you, Dad gets people who have had their sense of humor surgically removed at birth all the time attacking him and making threats. It does say that our house was destroyed, which is a shame because I liked that house, but he managed to get out in time, giving them something to remember him by. He's currently staying with friends, although obviously he isn't telling which one's."
"Good, to see he got out safely." said Neville with a smile which Luna returned weakly.
"I agree," said Ginny.
"I do too," added Harry. "Did he mention which Death Eaters attacked him or does he know?"
"No, afraid not, which is a shame, but I think they've suffered enough, they'll be the laughing stock for losing to someone who is seen as an eccentric man," answered Luna, who made a note to ask her father the next time she saw them. "We'll recover, we bounced back after what happened to Mum and we'll survive this as well."
"Of course you will, you'll strong, you'll bounce back, you're a fighter Luna, like all of us," said Harry and Luna nodded.
"Thank you Harry, it could have been worst," responded Luna quietly to herself, as she remembered what happened to Ginny's father and Neville's parents at the hands of Death Eaters. Of course, Harry had his parents taken away from him before he really knew them and had lived with those people for most of his life. While Luna hated thinking ill of others, she was happy when she heard that the Dursleys had met a rather messy end. "Time will go on and so will I, besides Charms class is next, I wouldn't want to be late for that."
The others nodded as Luna made her way to class. She was always good at hiding when she was upset, having to deal with people mocking her along with stealing her things over the first couple of years at Hogwarts. Now those people had died not, mostly due to her roommates maturing a little bit, but also because people feared the wrath of Harry Potter, along with the wrath of Ginny Weasley.
-
Hermione sat quietly against the wall in a deserted corridor. She found it often relaxing to be left alone with her thoughts at often times and her thoughts were rather odd over the last couple of months. Her dreams were odd, fragmented, often not able to be explained by a sane mind. She dreamed of a dark brooding figure, attacking Death Eaters, killing them. The figure resembled the descriptions of Downfall from the Daily Prophet. It really terrified Hermione, as she wondered exactly how much damage was done by her use of the dark arts and briefly wondered if she was this Downfall person. The image in the mirror, where she saw Downfall in place of her reflection had been something that was not be able to be driven right from her mind. Hermione felt the dark thoughts that she had, had been mostly locked away, at least during the day. Her nightmares had been something else all together. Disturbing, no two ways about it, and she struggled with trying to tell Harry and Ginny about her dreams. However, if she did that, Hermione felt in some way she would be letting them down. That she was not trying hard enough to beat her disease. She did read in the Daily Prophet there was some extensive studies being done on the Dark Arts Dependency disease to find a more permanent cure, funded by an unknown part, but it could be years before anything solid was found.
"You know you really shouldn't be sitting out here alone, especially now, there have been a lot of Muggleborns put in the hospital wing recently," said a calm voice and Hermione looked up to see a fifth year student; she was a prefect and had Slytherin robes on. "Harry and Ginny are doing there best to try to discourage these people but they just won't get the hint."
"I know, certain people in this school are like that…" said Hermione as she trailed off. "I'm sorry your name escapes me at the moment."
"Astoria, Astoria Greengrass," responded the girl with a smile. "I know who you are, Hermione Granger, you always seem to be a constant source of controversy in Hogwarts."
"That's putting it mildly," answered Hermione weakly, but she was watching Astoria with a weary eye. "No offense meant but I hope you're not going to hold what I've done in the past against me. Because I'm a little sick of having to deal with this, I knew I made a mistake but I don't like having it rubbed in my face every couple of minutes."
"No, I understand perfectly, you've done some things that people aren't willing to forgive, perhaps they shouldn't forgive them, but at least you're trying to avoid making the same mistakes again," responded Astoria and Hermione responded with a nod. "Look, I've noticed that people look for the simplest explanations, especially in this place. Not everyone, but you'll find a lot of people trying to explain something by what is simplest to them. A lot of people in my house think that Muggleborns are filth and are the cause of everything that ever goes wrong. A lot of people in your houses think all Slytherins are evil and should be dealt with."
"It all leads to a very stagnant society," added Hermione with a frown. "But why do you care if I get attacked or not?"
"I'm a prefect, it's my job to care," responded Astoria with a frown, she noticed that certain prefects, mostly in her house, had taken their job for granted. "There are people who don't like people like you and you are an easy target well…"
"Because almost everyone hates me because of what I tried to do to Harry and Ginny, hell I even hate myself for that," said Hermione. "Still, my parents told me I can't let these people get to me. Harry told me that too. Yet I just wish they'd understand."
"Some might, but most don't and the people who have a complaint will speak the loudest," responded Astoria. "Now, I think you should get back to your house before curfew. Because these hallways after hours are a dangerous place to be, you never know what's lurking behind a corner."
"Right, and I'm rubbish with a wand anyway," said Hermione in a deflated voice, as Astoria looked at her. "For a Slytherin, you're not all that bad you know."
"Yes, and you're not that bad for an insufferable know it all bookworm," responded Astoria before she paused but Hermione had a faint smile.
"That's the least of what I've been called," said Hermione with a yawn, the potion was beginning to set on. "I did get the feeling your sister doesn't like me all that much."
"Daphne's not the sociable type, unless it suits her, don't lose any sleep over it," responded Astoria with a knowing smile as she waved Hermione off and Hermione walked off. At least Hermione was making an effort to change after what happened. Whether it would stick or not, Astoria did not know and she had no place to judge. Still, that was more than she could say for certain people who would remain nameless. That blond haired sixth year Slytherin had Astoria frustrated, she still held out hope, but at the same time it was beginning to wane by each and every passable day. He kept falling further and further and so Astoria devoted more time in helping the D.A. She had overheard Harry and Ginny talking about how she was their prize student, she needed to work hard to not let them down. So there was little time to worry about anything else, including her own feelings, especially those that were not being returned.
-
"Dementor like symptoms have been noted heavily in villages here, here, here and here," said Harry as he marked a map at his feet with a wand, as Ginny sat right beside him in the Room of Requirement. It was in the latter part of November, turning into December, as Christmas was approaching and Harry thought now was a perfect time to try a little experiment that had been planning for some time.
"I'm noticing a pattern, see that right there, there's a set of caves right there," answered Ginny as she looked at the map.
"That's where the Dementors are, well at least a group of them," responded Harry.
"How is the Ministry explaining it?" asked Ginny curiously.
"A plague I believe, they're working over time to clean up the mess, but it's becoming harder and harder, the Muggles are noticing, especially with the thicker than usual amounts of fog," said Harry as he looked at the map. "The Muggle Prime Minister is irate about this entire mess as well. Minister Bones is doing better in this situation than Fudge had done but the Dementors are a problem. They should have never brought them to this country to guard Azkaban, they've wiped out entire magical civilizations before and I don't even know if Voldemort's quite realized what he's unleashed by giving them free reign."
"I know," responded Ginny as she gripped Harry's hand, as she leaned against him. "Still do you think your plan is going to work?"
"I think it may, but as always I have a backup plan," said Harry, calmly. "It will work, trust me and one the off chance it doesn't…"
"You have a plan, you always have a plan," said Ginny confidently. "Even if you never fail…"
"Voldemort's continued existence is proof to your statement, but flattery will get you everywhere, Ginny," said Harry as he pulled her in close, as they kissed, arms wrapped against each other, as their fingers ran across each other, before they enjoyed the quality time they had alone. Their vision of the Wizarding World was getting more and more closer to reaching completion, as more obstacles were being knocked down. Still there was a lot of work to still happen, but they were much closer than anyone else might from them.
-
"Muggles think they're better then us, we'll show them how inferior they are," remarked a Death Eater, as he lead another two into a village. The trio, while not inexperienced wizards by any means, was not exactly high enough to warrant regular contact with the Dark Lord. They were given orders from their master though Yaxley, a senior Death Eater.
"Yeah let's show them, in the name of the Dark Lord," said another Death Eater with a smirk beneath his mask. "On the count of three, aim your wands and release fiendfrye into the village. We're disapparate immediately, but there should be more than a few Muggles being killed."
"Seems to be there are about three Death Eaters who are seconds away from being killed," said a cool voice and the Death Eaters wheeled around fearfully, before their worst fears were confirmed, the thing that all Death Eaters feared in the back of their minds, coming face to face with Downfall.
"It's…how did you…find us?" asked one of the Death Eaters bravely.
"Doesn't matter, we were found," said a second Death Eater.
"Yeah, but let's take this blood traitor out, just think of how much we'll be rewarded by the Dark Lord," said a third Death Eater, a bit bravely as the other two looked at him like he lost his mind.
"You mental, Mendez?" said the first Death Eater and these were the last words that left his mouth as he was struck in the back. Every bone in his back broke, with the bone fragments puncturing several vital organs.
"Two Death Eaters left, oh I'm sorry, one Death Eater left," responded Downfall as another Death Eater was blasted down. The Death Eater landed hard, as his heart sped up, beating at an accelerated rate before it imploded, killing him immediately. Downfall turned slowly to the final Death Eater, the man known as Mendez. "Well, I'm here, by all means, take me out to earn the Dark Lord's favor, although he doesn't care about anyone but himself. Kill me, but you only get one free shot before I put you six feet under like the rest. So make it your best."
"AVADA KEDAVRA!" shouted the Death Eater desperately but Downfall took a half of a step to the side, allowing the spell to harmless hit a tree.
"That was your best shot, pathetic," responded Downfall and Mendez's head was suddenly whipped back. His neck snapped immediately on impact as he dropped to the ground. "Pathetic, really pathetic, no wonder this filth assaults Muggles, they can't handle it when someone is able to fight back against their attacks."
Downfall calmly stepped forward, rounding up the fallen Death Eaters to transport them to the Ministry. The vigilante felt that the Ministry was being done a favor about the Azkaban issue. After all, the Death Eaters could not break out of Azkaban if they were dead. It was a simple solution.
-
"Excellent work everyone, you are all improving, even beyond the standards expected for Ministry of Magic Aurors," said Ginny.
"Actually much better in many cases, given the inability of most of the Aurors to even contain the less talented of Death Eaters, most of you would fare better," added Daphne before she amended when she saw Susan. "Although it's improved a little since your aunt has become Minister…"
"Actually you should hear some of the things she says about the Auror Department and even some of the things that Scrimgeour says about them, obviously many of them are just there to for the gold they get paid," said Susan in disgust, despite the fact that Voldemort was back, there were still some people who were only out for themselves and not trying to protect the Wizarding World.
"Tell me about it," responded Neville, who had overheard his grandmother making similar complaints, remarking that Neville's parents would be ashamed if they were able to understand how far the quality of Aurors had dropped since their days.
"Well most of them have never fought against real threats before, just providing security for the Minister until recently," added Luna.
"But, we're getting off the subject, all of you are improving, Harry would be proud of you all if he saw it, because I know I am and we can speak for the rest of us," stated Ginny. "Considering this is our last meeting until after the Christmas holidays, I hope you will have a great time over them free of Death Eaters. Practice if you have a chance, but we'll pick up right where we left off immediately after at any rate. You're all dismissed, have a good day and next couple of weeks."
The D.A. nodded, before they filed out of the Room of Requirement orderly, leaving only Ginny, Daphne, Susan, Luna, and Neville who all sat down in the chairs it provided. Luna was the first who noticed that the Room had provided a sixth chair.
"Okay Harry, you can come out from underneath your Invisibility Cloak right now," remarked Luna calmly and Harry removed his Invisibility Cloak, before he folded it up, nodding his head.
"Harry, how long were you there?" asked Ginny in surprise as Harry sat down in the chair next to her.
"Long enough to see that you were all doing a great job," responded Harry before he rose up slightly, to lean over, kissing Ginny, as the two chairs appeared to fuse together into one, leaving them sitting side by side. "I think this Room has an intriguing sense of humor sometimes."
"And it's too smart for its own good," added Luna.
"I came in here after I got down with my business at the Ministry, the couple more representatives of the Wizengamot have been found missing, presumed dead, but it wouldn't have mattered anyway, as they were stripped of their family seats when their homes were raided, finding all kinds of cursed items," responded Harry. "By a purely anonymous tip I'm sure."
"Yes, a coincidence, just like when that act was passed that said that people could be stripped of their family seats, if they were caught having items that were restricted by the Ministry of Magic in their homes," remarked Daphne.
"Well it is there fault for bothering to get caught," said Susan.
"Just shows you how arrogant some people are," responded Harry, as Ginny leaned her head onto his arm resting it. "Oh, Susan, there's a Wizengamot meeting the day we after Hogwarts ends for this term, thought I'd pass on the message. We need to fill in seats. I'm sure you'll be getting an owl any time now, but I decided to give you the heads up."
"Okay thanks Harry," said Susan. "Anything on who will replace these people who had their family seats taken away?"
"I've heard a few names, most of them I think might actually be good on the Wizengamot, they don't have any ties to Voldemort and believe me, I make it my business to know these things," said Harry. "Of course this is just rumors, but I think we can get people in."
"Then we can introduce that dark marks checking legislation," responded Susan.
"Not for another six months, remember laws that get voted down can't get reintroduced right away," said Ginny. "In time, we'll just have to settle for other means in keeping the Death Eaters in check."
"Right," responded Harry, stroking Ginny's hair and the back of her neck absent mindedly. "If everything goes right, in six months, we'll be ready to put our finishing touches on the final stage of our plan to overhaul the Wizarding World. People will die yes, hopefully the corrupt elements on both sides, but I would be lying if I said that everyone who was of any use would come out safely."
"If it's necessary, that's what we're going to do," responded Neville. "Nothing like Voldemort can ever be allowed to happen again."
The others nodded in agreement.
"It's getting late," said Susan with a yawn. "I still have some homework to get done."
"Besides it looks like you two want some alone time," responded Luna with a knowing smile.
"Yes, so we'll just get out of your way," offered Daphne.
"Okay, but we're going to have one more meeting, I need all of your help for a Christmas present I'm giving Voldemort," responded Harry and Susan, Daphne, Neville, and Luna all looked at Harry like he had lost his mind.
"A Christmas present, to Voldemort?" asked Daphne with a raised eyebrow.
"What are you planning to give him?" inquired Luna with a smile. "Coal in his stocking?"
"Something along those lines," answered Harry, as Ginny snickered behind her hand. "The details need to be worked out, but once we have our final meeting in a couple of days, I'll let you know the full details of everything."
The other four nodded, as they took the paths offered in the back of the Room of Requirement that lead to their respective Common Rooms. As they left, Harry reached into his bag, before he removed the Resurrection Stone and turned it, causing the form of Lily Potter to appear there.
"Your plan is great Harry, I see nothing wrong with it," responded Lily calmly before Harry could even open his mouth, causing Ginny to giggle.
"Mum, you do realize how creepy it is when you answer a question that I haven't even asked yet?" asked Harry, as both Ginny and Lily were laughing.
"Yes, really, I do," said Lily with a smile on her face, as she watched Harry and Ginny. "Still, it's good, as always Harry."
"I think everything will work, I wish I can see the expression on Voldemort's face when he sees what you've done," remarked Ginny.
"Yes, that should be fun," answered Harry, as he kissed her on the back of the neck, as Ginny sat between his legs, leaning against him.
"Does the Ministry really think that security trolls at Azkaban is going to make one bit of difference when Voldemort has the giants?" asked Lily as she rolled her eyes slightly.
"That's about the best we can hope for with all of this legislation that handcuffs the Ministry's ability to give stricter punishments on Death Eaters, besides the Aurors are needed elsewhere and there can't be too many at Azkaban," answered Harry with a sigh. "The laws don't do anything to protect the people unfortunately, they just protect murderers. A person with a moderate bit of intelligence could exploit this system."
"Or someone with an above average amount of intelligent," amended Ginny with a smile.
"Still putting something like security trolls is just inviting Voldemort to bring the giants over to Azkaban and cause untold damage, not that the prison is holding Death Eaters anyway," responded Lily with a sigh. "It's about along the lines of when I tried to become an Animagus."
"What happened there?" asked Ginny curiously.
"Other than wasting three years of my time to find out that I did not have the potential to be an Animagus, it was nothing special," said Lily as she shook her head. "It's often odd how some people can do it and others can't. Sometimes it's lack of magical power, sometime's it's too much magical power that they can't channel it into a single animal. Speaking of which Harry, I'm glad you never wasted your time trying, because you really don't have the potential like I did."
"To be honest, I gave it a thought briefly a couple of times, but decided against it, becoming an Animagus requires too much time and energy that can be better devoted to other fields of magic," responded Harry, waving it off. "I guess since I can't turn into an animal, I guess I'm going to have to settle for knowing all of those advanced spells and dueling techniques."
"Something tells me, you'll manage," responded Ginny as all three of them laughed.
"Still the fact that Wormtail had the ability to be an Animagus and I don't, that does kind of upset me in a certain way," responded Harry.
"It is funny how life works out, but what are you going to do?" asked Lily with a shrug. She felt some small amount of frustration, even though she did not voice this to Harry. She was the closest to being back in the physical world, without being completely resurrected. Her soul was tied to Harry by one strand that could only be broken by the countercharm that she developed and thanks to what Dumbledore did, it could only be performed successfully by the Elder Wand. Harry's plan was moving right on schedule so she would not have all that much time to wait.
-
Lucius Malfoy walked towards a foul, disgusting building with mold growing off of the walls. It was one of the seediest magical establishments in all of Britain and even all of the Wizarding World. Still, it would the ideal place to find some brain dead goon to do his bidding, to set up Downfall for his or her downfall. He was just merely looking for someone who could bait the trap or maybe soften up the vigilante so he could lead a group of Death Eaters in to bring the problem to the Dark Lord, so he could do with Downfall as he pleased.
Lucius dodged as a chair was banished right in his direction, as two men were brawling like common Muggles. He briefly wondered if this had not been such a good idea to come to this place. Lucius paused, holding his wand, as several men stood in a circle, cheering, with glasses of firewhiskey in one hand and their wands in the other.
"Alright you two, that's enough," said a rough voice and everyone in the bar paused, before they backed off in fear. A thick bald man with large arms and a menacing demeanor walked forward. Even the two people in the fight stopped brawling and backed off in fear. "You want to start shit in my place, well you ain't going to live to do it again."
Lucius winced as this man walked forward, wand in hand to shut the doors to prevent the two troublemakers from leaving, before he viciously threw them around. There was some magic involved, but even a pureblood like Lucius had to admit this guy would be pretty formidable without magic. The two men were battered, in a bloody heap. It was not like this man was magically powerful, it was just the viciousness of his magical assaults were rather formidable. Perhaps enough to give Downfall some problems until Lucius could coordinate an attack with the Death Eaters.
"Alright any of you people want to start anything, you can just try, because I'll knock you around like these two idiots on the ground," said the large man gruffly and the other patrons in the bar shook their heads, in a terrified manner. Lucius smirked, but he had caught the attention of the bouncer. "And what are you looking at, Blondie?"
"I'm Lucius Malfoy, the head of the prestigious Malfoy family, with twenty three generations of pureblood ancestry behind me and it would be wise to address me with respect," responded Lucius in a pompous tone of voice which caused the bouncer to stop, looking at him.
"You either have guts, boy, or you're the dumbest son of a bitch I've ever seen," said the bouncer roughly and Lucius knew by the uncouth and unrefined demeanor that this bouncer was an American. American wizards were nothing but a bunch of beer swilling, foul mouthed rednecks as far as Lucius was concerned.
"Hey look, guys, the pretty little pureblood decided to grace us with his presence, maybe we should all bow down and kiss his arse," said one of the patrons as they laughed except for the bouncer who looked humorless.
"Just what are you doing here anyway, boy?" asked the bouncer as he towered over Lucius. Lucius recoiled, he could smell the goon's putrid breath in his face as he stepped back.
"I'm here on business for the Dark Lord," responded Lucius but the bouncer snorted.
"Voldemort?" asked the bouncer with a bit of disdain as Lucius looked at him.
"Do you know any other dark lords?" asked Lucius but the bouncer reached forward, grabbing him by the throat, before pushing him backwards. Lucius bounced up immediately, disgusted at being touched.
"You work for that pansy who decided to get himself blown up by a one year old toddler," said the bouncer with irritation. "If I wanted to kill some little fucker, I would have beaten him with my fists and threw him against the wall until he broke. But I guess, Voldemort can't do anything without his little stick."
The patrons of the bar laughed. Lucius decided to keep his tongue, he was surrounded by disrespectful and uneducated Mudbloods, half bloods, and blood traitors. The type that could rough him up if he made one wrong move, the type of the people that would dare to touch a respected pureblood like Lucius Malfoy. The Dark Lord would teach them the error in their ways soon enough.
"Listen, I wish to offer you a business proposition…" stated Lucius but he was rudely cut off.
"Oh look at the pureblood, throwing around the fact that he's educated by using big words," scoffed one of the patrons.
"Ain't gonna sound so smart when we knock his teeth out," said another man gruffly.
"Yeah look at his hair, all purdy and styled, we don't take too fondly of his type in here," said a third man, as he chuckled as Lucius came to the sudden realization that this lot needed a Hogwarts first year education more than they needed a lesson from the Dark Lord. So uncouth and unrefined, it made him ill.
"Shut the fuck up, all of you!" snapped the bouncer crudely. "All right, you have my attention, you better make it worth my while. If I ain't please with what you're saying, I'm gonna rip open your arms and tear out your tendons before flossing my teeth with them. Shoot, pretty boy."
"Well The Dark Lord has entrusted me with a problem Mr…" said Lucius trailing off.
"Everyone calls me Cemetery, because that's where your next stop is when you stir up shit in my place," said the bouncer, obviously nicknamed Cemetery, as he looked at Lucius. "So the Dark Pussy has given you this little problem to solve, but since you are too much of a bitch to do it yourself, you decided to seek out someone to do your little bidding. Is that it, boy?"
"More or less, your crude words have painted an accurate picture," said Lucius. "I'm sure you might have heard of the vigilante known as Downfall…"
"Yeah, seems like him gave your Master a few headaches when he fucked up a few of his boys," stated Cemetery. "I've heard of this fucker, I ain't got no beef with him, he knows how to kick a man's ass. You ever kick a man's ass? Of course not, because you would be too busy breaking a nail."
"I really think Downfall may be tougher than you Cemetery," said Lucius smugly. "Yeah you heard me, you big dumb troll, I think…"
Cemetery's fingers closed around Lucius's neck. Lucius gasped, thinking that he might have went too far.
"You're angling for a demonstration on the finer points of whipping a man's ass," growled Cemetery, as he dropped Lucius to the ground. "You think that boy is tougher than me. A lot of punk ass bitches have tried to start shit with me, including a few purebloods who thought they could shove me around because of how much gold they had. I'll tell you one thing, they didn't leave this place breathing. Is that clear?"
"Yes, clear, now let me go you d…let me go please," said Lucius; it strained all of his patience to be polite to this thing. "Now I'm willing to pay you gold if you deal with Downfall…"
"Boy, you might be as big of a dumb shit as I thought you were," responded Cemetery. "Two hundred Galleons for the job and I might actually let you walk out."
"Right, that seems reasonable," said Lucius, he had been planning to offer two thousand Galleons for the job, but if he could get this buffoon to settle for less, it would be beneficial for his bank account. "Floo me when the job is completed, but the Dark Lord wants Downfall alive. Break several of his bones if necessary but alive, leave Downfall alive."
"Right, got it, bones broken, no death, ass whipped, the Dark Pussy wants Downfall alive so he can pick him off, got it," said Cemetery. "Now get the hell out of my bar, you're fouling up the air."
Lucius backed off, what Cemetery did not know was that a tracking charm had been placed on his cloak. He also made arrangements for this place to be watched at all times, so he could find out when his hired gun went after Downfall. That was a responsibility he would entrust on Crabbe and Goyle, they would blend in perfectly with this crowd. If nothing else they owed him a couple of favors.
-
Trevor Nott walked towards the living room towards a tapping on the window on Christmas Eve. His son had been staying with friends over the hallways. He had not been expecting any post but the owl had a Christmas gift tied to its leg. Nott opened the window, before he removed the gift from the unfamiliar owl and walked over, before he unwrapped the gift. He screamed, jumping backwards, when he saw inside the package was a rubber duck. Nott had a nearly paralyzing fear of ducks after the Department of Mysteries. Once he mustered up enough courage, he saw that there was a note inside the package with the foul fowl. Nott took it with trembling hands.
Just a little gift until you meet your downfall. You should turn around right now.
Nott turned and he stood face to face with Downfall. The Death Eater stepped back, holding his wand, pointing it at Downfall.
"You're friends with Lucius Malfoy," responded Downfall coldly. "What is he up to?"
"I don't know, I swear," said Nott as he aimed his wand for an attack but it was knocked from his hand. A fire place poker levitated, with hot flames on it, before it aimed right at Nott, striking him in the stomach. He screamed as it burned though his robes and into his flesh.
"The truth or I am a bit lower next time," said Downfall carefully as the fireplace poker hovered dangerously close to Nott's crotch, as he appeared to be unable to move.
"Alright, he hired someone named Cemetery, because the Dark Lord wants to kill you and has given Lucius the responsibility because Lucius failed at the Department of Mysteries, I swear I don't know anymore," responded Nott fearfully. "I swear, don't kill me…"
"Merry Christmas, may you rot in hell during this holiday season," responded Downfall as tinsel was shot from the gloves. Nott laughed at the seemingly harmless holiday decoration that was wrapped around him until the tinsel constricted around him, squeezing tightly and it just got tighter. His wand was kicked out of the way, as each and every one of Nott's bones was shattered, before his windpipe was crushed. The last thing Nott saw was the horrific masked face of Downfall.
Downfall stepped on Nott's corpse, looking down with disdain at the Death Eater.
"If Lucius wishes to speed up his execution, then so be it," said Downfall coldly. "His downfall is long overdue. One by one, until there's no one left, than it will be just Riddle and he will fall as well. The end is here, the plague that is infesting this world shall annihilated. The end is here."
-
At the exact same time Nott was being murdered, on a set of mountains, inside a cave, there were Dementors hovering. They had preyed on the villagers below regularly, devouring their emotions and in many cases their souls. It was a great feast to them but they could have more, much more. They grew stronger, much stronger, soon they would be able to overtake the humans in this country. The alliance they formed with Lord Voldemort benefitted them, soon the world would be cast in a shadow as their numbers duplicated with each fresh emotion, each soul. The humans feared them, because they were power beyond anything the humans fight. They tried to keep them on that island, isolated, but the one they call Voldemort had allowed them to get off, given them the opportunity to feast on the fears of countless humans, without limits. Little did this Voldemort know what he done, but the Dementors would not let him know.
The Dementors that resided in this cave were not the only ones in this country. There were countless others and more than a few abroad, although centuries ago, the Ministry had rounded the majority of them up, to guard the fortress known as Azkaban. So most of them were in this country, with a larger group in this cave, waiting until they felt the urge to feed once again, to bring terror to the humans in the villages around them.
The Dementors paused, they sensed humans approaching. Mortals, with fresh emotions, to feast upon, powerful, which were the best type as far as these creatures were concerned. They glided from the cave, the temptation was too great, even it would be several hours before it was time to feast again. They sensed something familiar and powerful about these emotions, something that caused the Dementors to even more tempted. They must taste these emotions, they must devour this soul.
The moment they left the gave, the Dementors were bombarded with several objects. They recognized these objects. It was what the wizards called Patroni, a tool used to protect the humans, as they weakened the Dementors. The Dementors backed off fearfully, but instead of taking a defensive stance, the shapes advanced on them, it was too late. They charged at them, the Dementors had nowhere to go, they were too close.
Several cloaks were ripped open as the Dementors exploded into clouds of mist that were sent in every which direction. Shrieks that could not have been human, echoing in all directions as the Dementors were shredded. They stood no chance. The last cloak fluttered to the ground, before it burst into microscopic dust, hundreds of Dementors wiped out.
The Patroni exploded to reveal a message in the sky for all to see, especially a certain Dark Lord and remained there for at least the next day.
Not even your Dementors are safe. One by one, they will all drop, Riddle.
And there's the latest chapter. Chapter Thirty Seven, as we move the story along to the next big climatic point. Next couple of chapters will be important, as we lead up to the blockbuster Chapter Forty.
Also, a special programming note, the next update will be unlikely to happen until early next week, due to the fact I'll be unavailable this weekend.
And I got far more pleasure writing Cemetery's character than I probably should have give how much of a shelf life this particular character has along with how one dimensional he is. Still it amused me, so…yeah :)
Next Chapter. People die. Fluff happens. More people die. Political maneuvering. Even more people die. Dumbledore meets an old friend/enemy for some advice on the Downfall thing. Did I mention people dying?