Disclaimer: Being neither British nor Japanese, it should therefore come as no surprise that I own neither Harry Potter nor Naruto, nor anything from their respective franchises.
Blissful unconsciousness was abruptly and unceremoniously replaced with painful awakening. Every part of Iruka's body hurt, his head most of all, and he was still twitching from the repeated Cruciatus applications. Training was done for a reason, however, and even in his badly debilitated state it took only a second or two for the chuunin to once again assess his situation.
Unfortunately, while things had changed a fair amount since he'd been Stunned, he couldn't really say they'd done so for the better. He was still bound and surrounded by Death Eaters, for a start. The dimly-lit room filled with strange orbs was unfamiliar and probably not a part of Malfoy Manor, but he still didn't know where he was, how he'd gotten there, or where the exit was. Worse, his five students were all present, undoubtedly here on a brave but incredibly foolhardy rescue mission.
"Go ahead," one of the Death Eaters said to the kids, "ask him something."
The five seemed to hesitate for a moment, before Hermione spoke up. "Name Uzumaki Naruto's predecessors, in order."
Trust Hermione of all people to pick a history quiz question. Then again, almost nobody in Britain would know who Naruto was, let alone the previous Hokage. He listed off all six names in chronological order, skipping Shimura Danzō per official policy; while it was obviously impossible to confirm given the man's death, after his actions at the summit prior to the Fourth War most people assumed that he'd mentally manipulated the Fire Daimyō to get the Hokage seat.
"Now that you've satisfied your curiosity," Malfoy drawled with an irritated sneer, "it is time for you to do as you are told. Go and retrieve the prophecy orb with your name on it." Ah, so they were in the Department of Mysteries, then. That wasn't actually useful information at the moment, but it was worth noting at least.
Harry glared at the Death Eaters, but went down a nearby aisle and soon returned holding one of the glowing spheres in his left hand, his wand occupying the right.
"Very good," Malfoy said patronizingly, "you can follow instructions. Now, give it here."
"And give away the one thing keeping you lot from dragging all of us back to Voldemort?" Harry looked at Malfoy with a 'how stupid are you' sort of expression. "I don't think so. You're not getting this orb until we've got a safe way out of here."
Malfoy scowled. "Clearly you've failed to properly grasp the situation, Potter. This is not a negotiation; you will do as you are told or none of you will be leaving this room alive." He leveled his wand at Iruka, glaring at Harry. "Your teacher will be the first to die."
"Aww..." Iruka mock-whined, "and I'm still tied up so tight I can't even wave goodbye." He caught the subtle widening of Hermione's and Luna's eyes, and nodded a fraction in response.
"Do you really want to go back to Voldemort and tell him you failed?" Harry countered, inverting the hand holding the prophecy orb so that the glass ball hung downward, ready to drop to the floor if his hold slipped even slightly. "I'm sure that after your success with his old diary he'll be happy to forgive you bringing back a pile of worthless broken glass in place of the prophecy he wanted to hear."
While Harry spoke, Iruka could see Hermione shifting slightly, then felt his bonds loosen a bit. It wasn't a lot, the Fifth-Year still unable to get much power from silent spellcasting, but combined with four years of practice at applying the Rope Escape jutsu to magically-enhanced ropes it was enough that he was at least somewhat free to act. Now he just needed to wait for the right moment.
"Wrong answer, Potter," Malfoy snarled angrily, sakki spiking ominously, "Avada Kedavra!"
With a blast of poisonous green light and a rushing sound, the dreaded Killing Curse struck the bound figure of Umino Iruka. Said figure promptly erupted in smoke, revealing a corpse in Death Eater regalia.
Thank the Sage for Kawarimi no Jutsu and Henshin no Jutsu, Iruka thought distantly. From his position among his former captors, disguised as one of them, he took advantage of their moment of surprise and confusion to strike; his taijutsu was a bit slower and clumsier than usual thanks to all the Cruciatus exposure, so he kept things simple, direct, and brutally efficient. The Death Eater to his left went down screaming, his right knee bent at an unnatural angle thanks to a low side kick. To the chuunin's right, Augustus Rookwood couldn't make any sound louder than a choked gurgle after Iruka's knife-hand strike crushed his throat, and would be silenced forever in the next few minutes barring emergency medical aid that Iruka doubted any of the Death Eaters present had the skills or inclination to provide.
As his remaining enemies turned to him, all practically radiating bloodlust, Iruka shouted "Run!" to his students, ready to lash out once more, when sudden agony exploded along his right side. The world spun crazily before he struck something solid. The pain, the impact, and his already battered state from many hours of interrogation left him unable to even move as his consciousness slipped away.
\‾‾‾‾\/‾‾‾‾\/‾‾‾‾/
(O) (O)
U
Dobby watched from the shadows as Bad Old Master and the other bad witches and wizards chased Great Harry Potter Sir and his friends out of the glowy ball room. Dobby hadn't been able to help Professor Ninja Sir before with so many bad witches and wizards around him, but they were all gone now except for the two that Professor Ninja Sir defeated and Professor Ninja Sir was hurt and might die if he didn't get help soon. It would make Dobby too tired to help Great Harry Potter Sir any more today, but Dobby knew that Great Harry Potter Sir and his friends were much greater wizards and witches than Bad Old Master and would be safe.
As Dobby grabbed Professor Ninja Sir and snapped Dobby's finger to take them both to Madam Healer Lady at Hoggywarts, Dobby glanced at the ruins of the glowy ball room. How wonderful Great Harry Potter Sir and his friends were for giving the Ministry's house-elves such a large mess to clean!
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"Run!"
Harry tensed, a curse already coming to his lips as his wand rose, when Bellatrix Lestrange blasted Iruka-sensei in the side with what looked like a Confrigo or something similar and sent him crashing into and through some nearby shelves. Prophecy orbs shattered by the dozens as the shelves collapsed, many of them giving off wisps of silvery mist that shaped themselves into miniature human figures and began to speak. Even if he'd wanted to, there were too many at once to make any of them out.
"Diffindo!" Harry shouted angrily, sweeping his wand across in front of him at around shoulder-height. Several Death Eaters threw up hasty shields, blocking most of the Severing Charm, though at least two still suffered superficial gashes where a bit of his attack slipped through the gaps.
An instant later, he was forced to dodge a Stunner sent in reply, prompting Malfoy to order "DO NOT ATTACK! WE NEED THE PROPHECY! CUT THEM OFF!"
That was all the opportunity S.E.N. needed, backpedaling rapidly while hurling a barrage of offensive spells against the wall of shields raised by the Death Eaters.
"After them!" Malfoy yelled.
"Flash!" Ginny called, her left hand flicking out. All five teens immediately turned their heads away and sprinted for the door they'd come in through. Before they'd even taken two steps, the dimly-lit room around them was briefly cast into harsh white light and stark shadow as the flash bomb she'd thrown went off between the two groups of magicals. They ran to the accompaniment of shouts of pain and confusion from the blinded Death Eaters, though Harry did have to hurriedly shield against Bellatrix's attempt to Summon the prophecy orb from his grip.
Once they were in the room with the clocks, they slowed briefly to seal the door with a Colloportus, shuck their robes, and stow the prophecy orb in an expanded pouch on Harry's belt. "What do we do now?" Hermione asked, "Even if they're holding back we're outnumbered two-to-one, and one of them is Bellatrix Lestrange! We don't know how to find the right door in that spinning room, so the only way to get out would be to keep guessing until we get lucky."
"I don't think they know either," Luna pointed out, "since Malfoy needed Rookwood, the former Unspeakable, to lead him through. Rookwood's the one that Iruka-sensei, you know..." The blonde's usual good cheer was absent; having witnessed two people die so violently was hard on the gentle girl, regardless of how evil they may have been.
"So we keep moving," Neville stated decisively. "We pick a door in the spinning room and take it if it doesn't lead back in here. Either they'll have bad odds of picking the same door if they stick together, or they'll split up into groups that'd be a bit more manageable."
"Sounds like a plan," Harry nodded, "or at least the start of one. Let's go."
One dizzying room-spin later, they opened a randomly-chosen door and dashed through. Hermione turned to lock the door when Luna pushed her wand down. "Don't," she whispered urgently, "it'll tell them which way we've gone, and we might want to run back at some point. We should keep going another room deep so they can't see us from the door."
They hustled quietly through the room that looked like a bizarre cross between an office and a casino. Desks, bookshelves, and filing cabinets abounded, but so did dice, cards, and other equipment for games of chance. Large chalkboards were filled with lists of numbers with no discernable pattern, and most bizarrely Harry glimpsed what seemed to be a small potion-brewing lab through the open door of a side room. He considered having them hole up there, but decided that having a spare exit would probably be a good idea.
Opening the door to the next room slapped them in the face with bright light and warm, humid air. Looking around once their eyes had adjusted, they saw that the desks and other office furniture in this area were scattered among numerous tables, racks, tanks, and cages containing a broad variety of plants and small animals (the latter of which seemed oblivious to the teens' presence).
Seeing two closed doors aside from the one they'd entered by, Harry and Luna listened at the other doors, hearing nothing for the moment. "Here's a good spot to stop for now," he decided. "The light should dazzle anybody else coming in the same way it did us, so they'll be vulnerable for a moment or two. Let's move some desks to give us some cover."
"Sounds good for now," Neville said, already Levitating a desk into position, "but what's our long-term plan? Even if we can catch a couple of small groups out, sooner or later they'll gather back up, and I don't like our chances when that happens."
"We need help," Hermione agreed, "but how do we call for it? Harry, do you have your mirror on you?"
Harry shook his head. "I left it in my trunk. I should call-"
He was cut off when one of the two doors they hadn't explored yet swung open, catching the group by surprise. "HERE!" a Death Eater called even as both sides took aim, "IN THE LI-" was as far as he got before a Stunner from Luna dropped him.
The second Death Eater at the door didn't waste time calling his allies, instead throwing a sickly yellow spell back at Luna, who dodged while retaliating with a household charm normally used for ironing clothing. Having his robes heat up and attempt to flatten themselves while he was still wearing them distracted the Dark wizard enough for a Conjunctivitis Curse from Ginny to blind him before a second stunner from Hermione put him out of the fight. Neville quickly Summoned both men's wands and pocketed them.
"Back to the Spinning Room!" Harry said urgently, and the group dashed back the way they'd come, Hermione sealing the door behind them.
It was back in the half-office-half-casino that luck really turned against the group. The door in front of them opened before they could reach it, revealing another pair of Death Eaters. Both immediately opened with the Cruciatus Curse, forcing the teens to frantically dodge. They responded with spells of their own almost immediately, but with their formation pushed open for the moment it left them out of position for some to go purely on offense while the others handled defense.
Spells flew back-and-forth viciously for almost a minute before some kind of acid spell grazed Ginny's left arm and caused a nasty burn around the same time Harry landed a bone-breaking spell to the shoulder of the other Death Eater's wand arm. Both witch and wizard stumbled and cried out in pain, but Ginny was still very much in the fight, proven when she used her wounded arm to embed a pair of shuriken into the man that'd wounded her. The blades didn't bite deeply enough to take him out, but they did throw him off his game enough for Neville's piercing spell to put him down for good. Before the maimed Death Eater could fumble out a spell with his off-hand, an overpowered Disarming Charm from Harry sent him flying hard into the wall, where he slumped unconscious.
Harry led his friends back into the spinning room, snapping off a quick Banishing Charm to remove the corpse blocking the door. Once the spinning stopped, they cautiously opened a door at random and were overjoyed to see the corridor through which they'd originally entered. They ran desperately toward the lifts at the far end, but before the door could close behind them another door opened into the spinning room and began disgorging Death Eaters. "Hold this door open!" he heard Malfoy shout, "Don't let the room spin again!" The Death Eaters began charging across the round room, already hurling Impediment Jinxes and other immobilizing spells toward both the door and the fleeing teens.
The incoming spellfire forced the quintet to stop and defend, Neville throwing up a sturdy shield while Luna started casting counterjinxes to ease the burden. Harry, Hermione, and Ginny also started with a set of quick shields, but soon bunkered down behind Neville's to begin returning fire, each with their own preferred type of offensive spells. Ginny also once again started mixing in thrown blades, though the narrow confines of the corridor meant that her angles of attack were limited and her kunai were easily shielded against.
Both groups were at a standstill. S.E.N. had youthful stamina, practiced teamwork, and the freedom to cast anything in their repertoire without worry, while the Death Eaters held a slight numerical advantage, broader and Darker spell knowledge, and vastly more duelling experience. It looked like it would come down to a question of whether the Death Eaters' patience and restraint failed before their endurance.
Suddenly, a pleasant female voice behind Harry intoned "Level Nine, Department of Mysteries," before a much louder male voice bellowed "AURORS!"
Harry felt that he liked the second voice much better right then.
A quartet of scarlet Stunners shot past the teens, slamming into the shields of the Death Eaters, who responded with a volley of green Killing Curses, prompting everyone in their line of fire to dodge desperately.
"Go!" one of the Aurors shouted to the teens as he and his comrades stepped forward to join the fight in earnest. "Up the lift! We'll hold them here!"
Harry hesitated, wanting to stay and help, but concern for his friends' safety won out and he and his friends ran into the same lift the Aurors had just emerged from, slamming the button to return them to the Atrium. As the elevator rose, the sounds of mortal combat faded away below...
...only for similar sounds to abruptly start up coming from above. Upon reaching the Atrium, the five students found themselves witnessing a duel between their Headmaster and the Darkest wizard of their age. Magic like none of them had ever seen flew back and forth, devastating the room around the two powerful mages, neither of whom seemed to even be straining yet. Harry ached to curse the Dark Lord himself, or at least try, but he remembered advice Iruka had given all of them years before:
"Never get involved in a fight that's above your level if you can avoid it," he'd said. "Yes, you might manage to play the spoiler and tip things in favor of your chosen side, but high-level battles can be extremely unpredictable, and you're almost as likely to throw things the other way. It also draws the fighters' attention to you, turning you into a target for someone you can't beat, so it's extremely dangerous on top of being unreliable."
Even so, the teen gripped his wand tightly, either readying himself to either add his own curses to the mix or defend against incoming fire, he wasn't really sure which. Beside him, his friends did the same.
Meanwhile, the fireplaces were flaring green and disgorging wizards and witches at an increasing rate. There were Aurors, several green-robed Healers, and numerous others. One fireplace spit out several Weasleys in a row, and another produced Minister Fudge himself.
"It would appear that we have an audience, Tom," Professor Dumbledore said mildly.
Voldemort snarled, seemingly noticing the growing crowd (many of whom had drawn their wands and were looking nervously at the duel) for the first time. "And so you live for another day, Dumbledore," he spat, and with that parting shot he vanished.
-――――===ͽ Δ ͼ===――――-
Albus had been enjoying a pleasant Sunday and taking a rare break from the never-ending curse of parchmentwork when Poppy had contacted him about a frantic and exhausted house-elf suddenly depositing a grievously-wounded Professor Umino in her Hospital Wing. He'd used Hogwarts' internal Floo system to rush straight down.
What he found upon arrival was indeed Umino Iruka lying unconscious in a hospital bed with a Healer from Saint Mungo's treating the rather nasty wound to his side and an oddly-dressed house-elf Albus recognized as Dobby standing unsteadily nearby. "Professor Headmaster Sir!" the elf cried, "Great Harry Potter Sir and his friends be in the glowy ball room in the Ministry with bad witches and wizards! They is needing help!"
There was really only one place that could be referring to, and one likely group of magicals. Albus immediately shot off a Patronus message to Nymphadora, who if he remembered correctly should be on shift in the Auror office, followed by messages to Kingsley, Minerva, Sirius, and Amelia. While the details of each message varied, the core remained the same:
Harry Potter and his friends are in the Department of Mysteries and under attack by Death Eaters. Gather all available help immediately.
With both the Order and the Aurors hopefully roused, he made haste for the Ministry himself. He Flooed back to his office, turning about immediately after emerging from his fireplace and grabbing another handful of powder which he cast back in the moment the green flames from his arrival had subsided.
The Grand Sorcerer strode across the Ministry Atrium, noting worriedly the glazed expression of the security wizard and his sluggish response to Albus's intrusive entrance. Before he could reach the lifts, however, he was forced to turn and block a Dark organ-rotting curse cast from behind him. A patch of shadow detached from the wall, resolving itself into Lord Voldemort.
Albus did some frantic mental calculations. He had some number of children presently in mortal danger and in urgent need of rescue, including Harry Potter. His presence would almost certainly resolve that situation quite quickly in their favor. Unfortunately, Tom's presence complicated matters: Neither wizard could reasonably expect to reach the Department of Mysteries to aid their respective sides while the other remained active here in the Atrium. Under no circumstances could Tom be permitted to join in down below; even with brother wands, Albus didn't favor Harry's chances of emerging intact from another direct confrontation with Lord Voldemort just yet, and his friends' odds would be substantially worse.
So, priority number one was to block Tom's access to the lifts. Number two was to survive and guard against spoiling attacks - losing the Elder Wand's loyalty at this juncture would be nothing short of disastrous, and Albus knew that his own value as a piece on the board was second only to Harry's. Unfortunately, actually defeating Tom was almost certainly off the table: While the Wand of Destiny rendered Albus effectively unbeatable in a duel barring outside intervention, the terms of the prophecy suggested that only Harry could truly bring Voldemort down.
Regarding Harry's safety, Albus had little doubt that the DMLE would already be sending Aurors down the lifts, which should provide at least some immediate relief. More people - hopefully many more - should soon begin arriving in answer to Albus's call. With any luck, they would provide not only reinforcements but also eyewitnesses, hopefully enough to finally convince Cornelius of the true nature of the threat to their world.
His best move was therefore to stall.
"Now, Tom," he chided, having reached his conclusion with only a couple of seconds' thought, "is that any way to greet your old Professor? I dare say you are not making a favorable impression if you intend to seek the Defense Against the Dark Arts position."
Voldemort chuckled darkly. "My apologies for my rudeness," he said with mock seriousness, his eyes and wand remaining locked on Albus. "I suppose I reacted in haste when I saw someone barging right past the security desk without checking in - whatever would Headmaster Dippet say?"
A negligent flick of the Elder Wand had the presumably-Imperiused security wizard stunned, bound, and disarmed. No sense in leaving a dagger at his back, after all. "It was foolish to come here tonight, Tom," he said calmly. "The Aurors are on their way -"
"By which time I shall be gone, and you dead!" spat Voldemort. Freed of his need to cast silently, he shot a Killing Curse at Albus, who sidestepped. All of his sparring with Iruka, Filius, Alastor, and the others had left him fitter and sharper than he'd been in over a decade, and he definitely felt the benefits over the following minutes as he and Tom exchanged increasingly powerful and flashy spells, both playing to the growing crowd of Ministry personnel spilling from the Floos.
Glimpsing his wayward students as they emerged from one of the lifts, Albus smiled and reminded Voldemort of their large audience. Tom clearly didn't find numerical asymmetry nearly as pleasant when he was the one at the disadvantage, and promptly fled the field of battle.
A/N: Tune in next chapter for the aftermath!
In case his section doesn't make it clear, Dobby felt so bad for not being able to rescue Iruka earlier that he snuck back in to look for a way to help.
As for why I have the Death Eaters attacking not long after Lucius told them not to, well, they don't see the prophecy in Harry's hand and they're aiming their nastier spells at the other four.
For every time the room spun, I actually random-rolled a d12 to decide which door they went through. The first two rolls came up "room not shown in canon", and the third came up "exit". I hadn't been planning on having the kids leave the DoM until after reinforcements arrived, but having them fight the Death Eaters group-vs-group in the corridor actually worked out reasonably well, I'd say.
Yes, things end somewhat akin to the canon version of the battle, but that's largely because the same character (Voldemort, in this case) will generally take similar actions under similar circumstances.
Fic Recommendation: "100 Things Crowley Would DO Before the World Ended" by shewhoguards - Crowley has a bucket list, and Aziraphale is just going along to thwart the evil entries, honest.
Posted 19 January 2020