Chapter 47
CHANGING ALLEGIANCES
"What a fortunate turn of events," I said while forcing Umbridge down the marble staircase, a wand pressing her back. "Now we can use the Floo from her office, and if we encounter anyone on the way to the Department of Mysteries, she can order them to go away."
"I will never help you –" Umbridge cried, but I Silenced her with a flick of my other wand.
"A teacher should always consider the safety of students the highest priority," I told her. "You have failed, and deliberately, too! We are not fond of your liberal use of a blood quill, but today you will have the chance to redeem yourself. Do you know what I mean? When we fight the Death Eaters, we will use you as a living shield!"
Umbridge stopped in her tracks, opening her mouth in an agitated manner, but I laughed and forced her onwards.
We met no one on the way to Umbridge's office; I wondered whether Voldemort's curse had something to do with it. I blasted the door open, went to the fireplace and grabbed enough Floo powder for nine people. Throwing it into the fire caused an explosion of green fire. Grabbing Umbridge tightly, I stepped into the heart of the fire and called,
"Ministry of Magic!"
After an extremely uncomfortable whirlwind and glimpses through numerous fireplaces, the green flames spat me out into the elegant Atrium of the Ministry. The working hours were over and the Atrium was empty; not even a security guard was there, and I was sure it meant that the Death Eaters had already gone to the Department of Mysteries to wait for Harry.
Once Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Fred, George and Cedric had arrived as well, I turned to them and said,
"I'm going to get some reinforcements for good measure. Wait for me, it shouldn't take but a moment."
I Disapparated, heading for home. There, I ordered Dobby to ride piggyback as one more safety measure, again invisible, inaudible, blind and deaf. Then I Apparated to the rendezvous point of my little conspiracy, in the middle of a park in London, where Karkaroff was waiting with Flint, Derrick and Bole. The three former Quidditch players were dressed in Muggle military gear, carrying assault rifles and several hand grenades each; the only thing that gave them away as wizards were their wands attached to their combat vests.
"This is the day we've been waiting for," I said and gestured them to grab my arms. "We're going to the Ministry of Magic!"
The rendezvous point was not very far from the Ministry, and Side-Along-Apparating four people back to the Atrium was not too difficult.
Harry and the others were shocked to see whom I brought with me. No one was pleased to see Karkaroff again, and especially Fred and George glared at the former Slytherin Quidditch players with hostility.
"You know I've been building an alternative Slytherin conspiracy from the leftovers of Voldemort," I explained. "I have to make do with what I've got."
We strode through the Atrium, Umbridge skittering first. In the smaller hall with the lifts we split into two groups, because we could not fit into one lift. On the way down I used the Silencing Charm on the assault rifles of my servants. Firearms would be ridiculously easy to render useless with the Anti-Combustion Charm, but since we would be facing pure-blood supremacists, it was unlikely that such an easy solution would spring to their minds, especially if the firearms were quiet.
Once we faced the long corridor leading to the Department of Mysteries, I raised my hand.
"Maximum preparations," I said. "Drink the potions."
Each member of the group had a restorative potion so that we would feel strong and brisk, a Strengthening Solution to give us extra physical strength and endurance and a Potion of Salamander's Essence for fire protection.
Next I cast the Infrared Seeing Charm that I had crafted myself on each member of the group. Since it was an upgrade of the Supersensory Charm, it also had the sense heightening effect. Lastly, I cast the Disillusionment Charm on everyone but Harry, Umbridge and myself. We could still see where our invisible comrades were, because with the Infrared Seeing Charm we could see faintly the air that their bodies warmed up around them.
"And so it begins," I whispered and forced Umbridge towards the door that I had seen so many times in Harry's mind during the Occlumency lessons.
The first room of the Department of Mysteries was large, circular and very thoroughly black. Harry and I cast the Wand-Lighting Charms, but they had little effect because there was so little to reflect the light back. I randomly chose one of the doors, opened it and entered a laboratory of some sort. The countless contraptions in the room looked similar to those that Dumbledore had in his office, but were somehow even more fascinating.
"This wasn't the room I saw in the vision," Harry murmured. "There was some kind of dancing light in there."
The next room was a library, and it pained me not to having the time to stop there for the rest of the night. I slowed my steps and walked right next to one of the shelves, yearning to steal some of the books. I only had time for a quick glance during which I managed to note that many of the books had been written by Isaac Newton, the first (and, according to The Quibbler, current) Head of the Department of Mysteries back when the ancient brotherhood of the Unspeakables had been integrated into the newly formed Ministry of Magic (or, according to The Quibbler, the brotherhood had founded the rest of the Ministry in order to gain political power). There were Philosophiæ Magicus Principia Mathematica, Arithmetica Multiversalis and A Time-Turned Account of Twelve Notable Corruptions of Scripture, all of which were only available to the public in limited editions. Newer books from other notable Unspeakables included The Downfall of the Magical Communities: Outlines of a Morphology of True World History by Oswald Spengler and Advanced Necromancy: From Zombies to Artificial Intelligence by Eliezer Yudkowsky.
"Most of these books have been written by foreigners," Hermione's voice pointed out curiously from one of the faint blotches of warmth in my vision. "Wouldn't you think that the department had more texts from its own members?"
"The Department of Mysteries is a division of the British Ministry of Magic," I said, "but I'm quite sure that the Unspeakables form a multinational brotherhood that has infiltrated the research departments of every single magical government in the world."
"Oh, let's go!" Harry exclaimed in exasperation and tugged Hermione's arm.
"This room must be at or near the centre of the department," I said, "because each subdivision needs to have easy access to the literature. Open all doors, Harry, and tell us which room is the right one."
After opening four doors Harry finally whispered,
"This is it. I saw Remus in this hall."
"Keep quiet," I said to the invisible members of the group. "Do not do anything before I give the order to open fire at the Death Eaters. Harry, you must pretend having been fooled. Let's go."
The hall we entered was faintly illuminated in blue light. It was high as a church, as cold as any underground space and full of towering shelves. Unfortunately, the shelves did not contain Time-Turners or any Atlantean grimoires, but unremarkable dusty glass orbs.
"Row ninety-seven," Harry whispered.
It did not take long to find the right row, and as we started to walk towards the far end of the hall, we noticed blotches of warmth standing still ahead of us, waiting for us.
"Our friends are here," I whispered in Harry's ear. "Act convincingly."
"Remus should be near here," Harry said loud enough for his voice to carry to the end of the hall. "Anywhere here… really close… somewhere about… here…"
We reached the end of the row, very close to the invisible source of warm air.
"Where is he?" I asked.
"I dunno," Harry said, sounding baffled. "Do you reckon he's been taken away?"
"Then why would he have been taken here in the first place?" I asked and looked around. "No… you've been tricked, Harry! The vision was false! This is a trap!"
I pointed my wand at the source of warmth.
"A wonderful realisation, just far too late," drawled Lucius's voice.
"Is that you, Lucius? You're behind this? Show yourself!"
"Why not? Let us show them how severely outnumbered they are."
The Disillusionment Charms were dispelled, and as many as fourteen hooded figures in black cloaks flickered into view. Umbridge tensed next to me, probably experiencing the horrible feeling of having been mistaken in a matter of life and death.
"Show me your faces!" I snarled. "I want to see you before I kill you."
Many voices laughed contemptuously.
"This Gryffindor is the new Head of House Slytherin?" Lucius mocked. "Very well, let us give him an example of courteous behaviour."
Lucius took off the hood of his cloak and the other Death Eaters followed suit; this was the first step in our plan, because we had to be able to identify Lucius and the other defectors once the fight would begin. Next to Lucius stood Theodore and Charles; Robert Jugson senior was standing at the back of the group; Rodolphus and Rabastan Lestrange looked at Harry and me with a savage, predatory gleam in their eyes; Augustus Rookwood looked quite bored; Antonin Dolohov was particularly gaunt-looking, but his eyes were very lively and cruel; Quentin Travers, Simon Avery, Walden Macnair and Richard Mulciber were slowly advancing in order to surround us; and finally, Crabbe and Goyle, whatever their first names were, stood motionless behind Lucius.
"Fourteen," I said and gestured to the right. "Your mission must be important. But if it is, why is your master not here? I didn't take him for a coward."
Some of the Death Eaters growled, but Lucius gave a short chuckle.
"He has been busy for a year to remain unnoticed," he said and started to walk back and forth a little. This was a part of our plan as well: he needed to get away from the other Death Eaters to avoid being targeted along with them, but he had to do so without raising suspicion. "Sneaking into the Ministry would have been an unnecessary risk."
"Really? Do you really think that even Fudge is thick enough not to make an accurate conclusion from the fact that a group of very prestigious people like yourselves has trespassed a top secret facility with a group of Azkaban escapees? Besides, you're speaking right in front of a high-ranking Ministry official. This lady here is Dolores Umbridge, Senior Undersecretary to the Minister!"
"Do not get your hopes up," Lucius said and walked around some more. Theodore, Charles, Crabbe and Goyle had started to move too, and slowly the group of Death Eaters changed so that the five defectors were grouped together separately from the rest. "We will soon be gone from here, and no one will know we were here at all."
"Let's get this over with!" barked Rodolphus Lestrange and stepped menacingly forward. "Take the prophecy, Potter boy!"
"I don't think you should obey him," I said. Lucius and the four other defectors moved slowly away from the rest of the Death Eaters.
"I'll make him obey!" Lestrange yelled and brandished his wand. It should have been intimidating, but the only thing I could think of while looking at his angry face was how I had once shrunk the shoes of his father and by doing so caused his toenails to grow in. The memory of Edmond Lestrange tottering around Hogwarts with crutches never failed to make me smile.
"You've sneered for the last time, Valedro," Rabastan Lestrange said, coming to stand next to his brother. "Let's see what Potter thinks about it when we kill his companions right in front of his eyes! I know I will have fun! Avada Kedavra!"
I tugged Umbridge to stand in front of me. She finally managed to break the Silencing Charm and screamed,
"I am the Senior Undersecr…"
But the Killing Curse struck her, silencing her for good. As she slumped, I yelled,
"Code Red! Open fire!"
I cast the Blasting Curse with both of my wands, and Harry attacked as well. Behind us, the invisible Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Fred, George and Cedric launched a volley of Blasting and Reductor Curses, Karkaroff lashed with a Whip of Malice and Flint, Derrick and Bole fired their assault rifles. Even though the explosions of the gunpowder could not be heard, the bullets flying at supersonic speed filled the hall with frightening noise.
The Death Eaters were immediately on the defensive, but as their Shield Charms were directed at us, Lucius, Theodore, Charles, Crabbe and Goyle started their own attack from the rear.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" someone screamed.
Shield Charms shattered and new ones were being cast, but the visibility was getting poor because the destruction caused so much smoke and dust. I still kept firing more curses, because I knew where the enemies were.
"Stop!" Lucius's voice cried suddenly through the noise, and I gave the halting order. With a Wind Charm I pushed the smoke and dust away and revealed the centre of chaos.
Lucius, Theodore, Charles, Crabbe and Goyle had retreated further away from the other Death Eaters. At their feet, Jugson lay unconscious. A few paces away from them was Rookwood, also unconscious, and his right leg had totally severed; he also had a bad-looking wound on his temple, but at least he was still breathing. Rodolphus Lestrange had crumpled into a bloody mess just a few steps away from me. Dolohov was sprawling on top of two other Death Eaters. A bullet had struck him in the forehead, and what remained of his face was only barely recognisable. The two under him were Macnair and Mulciber; I could not see exactly how they had died, but the Blasting Curses had probably dismembered their bodies. Of the fourteen Death Eaters only Rabastan Lestrange, Travers and Avery were still standing and true to Voldemort's cause. They were all bruised, Lestrange's left hand was bleeding and a corner of Avery's robes was on fire, but all they could do was to stare at the gruesome massacre of their comrades.
"Get them!" I roared, and the battle resumed at once.
The surviving Death Eaters were, however, experienced in battle, and they were quickly in action mode again. They created strong Shield Charms between themselves and us, shot murderous glares at the five defectors and ran.
"Sustained fire!" I told my three servants, and they fired. The Shields blazed white, and I, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Fred, George, Cedric, Karkaroff and the defected Death Eaters all began to cast Reductor Curses. In a few moments the Shields shattered, and the chase began. "Tend to Rookwood!" I cried at Lucius before focusing on the quickly retreating backs of the three Death Eaters.
Lestrange and Travers were running together, but Avery separated from them, probably trying to find a safer route to safety. I gestured at Harry and the others to follow Avery while I ran after the other two. At the next intersection of rows a Blasting Curse barely missed me. I did not want to let them see any of my thousand automatically activating Shield Charms, so I used the Summoning Charm on certain thing I had left behind. Then I continued onwards.
Lestrange and Travers kept stopping and shooting at me. As the next Blasting Curse came too near, I flicked my wand, and the corpse of Umbridge rushed forwards and intercepted the curse. Travers turned again and fled, but Lestrange stood for a while too long, looking grudgingly impressed by my ruthless creativity. Then he followed the older wizard, but I had managed to come near enough for my next strike.
"Amplio Gravitas!" I cried and pointed at the back of Lestrange. His flight ended with horrible abruptness as his suddenly increased weight made his knees break. He fell face-first to the floor with unnatural speed, and I heard his ribs breaking and air rushing out of his lungs. As I ran past him, I pointed my wand at the back of his head and said, "Reducto." With a burst of blood, bone and brain the House of Lestrange was brought to a dismal but deserved end.
Travers had fled through one of the many doors in the hall. I rushed through it only a few seconds after him, but I stumbled into a halt as I saw the room where we were in.
It was a huge rectangular room with a cavernous ceiling, and in the centre there was a stone pit with the sides forming descending steps like an amphitheatre. On a stone dais in the middle of the pit there was the most ominous structure I had ever seen: an ancient stone archway with a sharp point and a tattered veil rippling despite the absolute stillness of the ice cold air. I had seen the archway twice before: first in the vision caused by my first Dementor encounter, the second time when I had seen Salazar Slytherin's memories in the Chamber of Secrets.
The Veil of Death, the only known passageway to the Otherworld.
Travers tripped on his way down and snarled a curse. The noise shook me from my reverie, and I jumped down the steps. With a flick of my wand I temporarily deactivated my disguising charms and directed a Reductor Curse to the floor in front of Travers.
He turned to face me, but was stunned motionless at the sight of my true looks.
"You have failed me, Quentin," I said in the same cold voice I had used when disciplining my younger minions at Hogwarts in my first life.
"Tom Riddle?" he breathed, thunderstruck. "What – how –?"
"Depulso!" I said. The Banishing Charm yanked him into the air and flung him through the archway. As the Veil was violently swayed aside, I saw briefly what was behind it: the glorious being with black hair, pearly white skin and glowing red eyes, standing just on the other side. As Travers was tossed out of the world of the living, Death picked him easily mid-flight and then looked at me, raising his eyebrows with derisive amusement. Then the Veil settled again, hiding the dark god once more.
For a few moments I stood staring at the archway, trying to collect my thoughts. Then my magically heightened hearing alerted me to a fight in one of the adjacent rooms, and I rushed up the stairs again and reactivated the disguising charms.
The door I was heading towards was blasted open before I reached it, and I saw glimpses of the fight. Simon Avery had been cornered by Harry and at least two still invisible others, one of which had to be Karkaroff, because a Whip of Malice was wreaking havoc. Avery was panicking, and the Blasting Curses he fired triggered many of the automatically activating Shield Charms of my comrades-in-arms.
I still had a few yards to run when another door to the room Avery was fighting in opened, and many people rushed in. Dumbledore was at the forefront, followed by McGonagall, Remus, Arthur and Bill Weasley, Sturgis Podmore, Hestia Jones and Moody. Avery let out a howl of terror and cast the Blasting Curse at Dumbledore, but the old wizard deflected it with a lazy flick of his wand.
Most of the Order members moved quickly to surround Avery, and as they moved away from my field of vision, my attention was focused on Moody who had stopped at the doorway. He had a grim, determined expression on his scarred face, and then he did something I could not believe: he too cast the Blasting Curse, but it missed Avery quite remarkably and instead hit Podmore squarely in the back, killing him instantly.
Everyone turned to look where the curse had come from, but Moody was already casting the next one. It blasted against Arthur, but he managed to cast the Shield Charm, saving his life, but he was still knocked over.
"Alastor! What are you doing?" Dumbledore demanded, but Moody did not stop.
"Avada Kedavra!" Moody roared with his face twisted with rage. The Killing Curse flew towards Dumbledore, but since Avery was currently almost behind him, I could not be sure Moody was truly trying to murder the Headmaster. Dumbledore dodged with speed that would have been impressive even for a teenager, and the curse struck Avery before the Death Eater could launch his next attack.
The death of the last Death Eater seemed to bring Moody to his senses at least a little bit. His magical eye swirled in its socked madly, looking in all directions. I could see it in his normal eye when he realised that the fight was over, but instead of relieved, he seemed horrified. With a quick flick he cast the Blasting Curse on the ceiling above him, and as shattered rock and dust rained down, the old Auror turned and fled as quickly as he could with his peg leg.
Once again I had to force myself back from my deep thoughts to the situation at hand. Dumbledore's sudden appearance was a really bad turn of events. How could I look for and steal a Time-Turner and Atlantean texts when he was present? But a more pressing matter was the defected Death Eaters. I could not let Dumbledore encounter them before the situation would be explained, and I wanted to interrogate Rookwood before Dumbledore would have the opportunity to decide about his fate.
I heard Harry starting to explain to Dumbledore that there were many friendly people present invisibly, and I let him do it. I ran as fast as I could through the room of the Veil of Death to the door to the hall with the prophecies. To my relief, the door opened and Lucius and the other defectors came in, bringing with them the unconscious Jugson and Rookwood.
"The fight's over," I said, "and Dumbledore has arrived. This has to be done quickly before he gets to us."
We went back through the door to the hall of the prophecies, because it was unlikely that Dumbledore would come there immediately. I decided to deal with Jugson first.
"Rennervate."
Jugson's eyes opened instantly, and he tried to rise up, but I stopped him with my wand.
"What happened?" he asked. "Valedro, what in Merlin's name was that show for?"
"You should know that these five gentlemen have decided to renounce Voldemort," I told him and gestured towards Lucius, Theodore, Charles, Crabbe and Goyle.
"What?" Jugson exclaimed. "Lucius, Theodore – are you insane?"
"I am their new master," I continued. "The news of their defection will be made public very shortly, as well as the news of your defection, whether you defect or not. If you'd rather serve Voldemort, feel free to return to him. I'm sure he'll welcome you back with open arms."
"No," Jugson gasped in horror. "He will not!"
"So, that settles it," I smiled. "Don't be too worried about the future. Voldemort lost most of his followers today, and with the help of your inside information, the rest will be dealt with in no time. Besides, your two youngest children are already on my side. Surely you don't want to make your home life awkward by choosing the opposing side?"
"Robert, there is a very good reason we made this decision," Theodore said solemnly. "This war will not last for long, and I think the outcome is already obvious."
"This does not seem to be a decision on my part," Jugson growled. "I do not have a choice, do I? Damn you, Valedro!" He eyed me with both fearful anger and reluctant awe. "I have to commend your way of leaving me no other choice, you devil. I hope you have an equally cunning way of securing victory and our lives!"
"No worries. However, you'd better contact your son Robert the moment we get out of here if you want to save him from Voldemort. Now, I'll find out what Rookwood has to say. I'm afraid it's not for your ears, though."
The former Unspeakable was gravely injured, but his severed leg was bandaged and he was no longer losing blood. I cast the Anti-Eavesdropping Charm around us and Revived him.
Rookwood opened his eyes, but unlike Jugson, he did not seem surprised at all. A wily smile came upon his face as he looked up at me.
"Hello, Rookwood," I said. "Do you know who I am?"
"Tom Riddle," he said immediately, grinning even wider as I startled. "But not the same one who sent me here earlier today. Do not take me for a fool, Tom, I know much more than you can imagine."
"Enough bragging! Tell me what you know!"
"Ah, Tom, do you remember that evening in 1943, right after we had left from Slughorn's meeting? Surely you do, you were so excited. We spoke about the Dark Arts, specifically those that would cheat death itself. And I told you about an old, forbidden book in the Restricted Section of the library."
"Get to the point," I snarled.
"Hogwarts does not have such books, has never had!" Rookwood cackled. "It was there only because I had put it there hours earlier. The book had been given to me by Grindelwald himself, because he had tasked me with corrupting the most promising of Dumbledore's pupils! He wanted to create new enemies for Dumbledore to occupy his attention in Britain, and you were the obvious one in this plan. Poor, poor little Tom! How does it feel to learn that Lord Voldemort is as much my creation as he is yours?"
It felt really bad indeed, and Rookwood could see it from the shaking of my hands.
"You were tempted to make a Horcrux, and the damage it did to your mind made you so much less than you could have been. A terrifyingly violent Dark Lord your other self became, but he was but a pathetic shadow compared to Grindelwald! I found it easy to manipulate him. So blinded was he that he did not realise that I was the true mastermind all along. Then he disappeared and I was exposed as a Death Eater. Well, I was cunning enough to send a Metamorphmagus to Azkaban in my stead and stay working here in the Department of Mysteries under disguise."
There was a sinking sensation in my stomach. Even though I had always known Rookwood to be intelligent, this was too much. There was not a thing I hated more than being outsmarted.
"Ah, I see Lucius has joined you," Rookwood said. "I presume you revealed to him the truth about your being a former Horcrux. The thing is, I arranged the raids that provoked him into getting rid of you. I wanted to stir wizarding Britain a little."
"And what are you planning to do?" I demanded. "You seem to know many of my secrets, but I happen to know one of yours. You're still serving Grindelwald, aren't you? You became an Unspeakable because he told you so, and ever since you've been loyal to him. You want to set him free, right?"
"Grindelwald!" Rookwood laughed. "Me – serving him? Grindelwald is a failure, just like you and your other self are. I happily let him rot in Nurmengard. True, I served him for a while, but after I glimpsed new truths in this place, I became my own master. Do you think that I, as an Unspeakable, am unable to listen to these prophecies? I am not, not after creating the way of removing the orbs safely. I took the liberty of listening to every single prophecy ever made, and I know all foretold futures! One prophecy in particular was very interesting to me. Let me repeat it to you.
"The Dark Lord will rise
through force and deception.
Though born to those without magic,
he will command a might never seen before,
a might granted by three devices of power.
He will unleash Death into the world
and rediscover the lost power of
the fabled Sunken Empire."
The prophecy of the Delphic Oracle to Salazar Slytherin! It was what had started everything: the founding of Hogwarts, the blood prejudice in the wizarding world and my own purpose in life. I had been proud to be the only one to know it, but now this facetious vermin used it to tease me! Oh, how much I yearned to cast the Cruciatus Curse on him…
"I studied the Veil," Rookwood said, lowering his voice into a foreboding whisper. "I learned what is behind it, waiting patiently for that prophecy to be fulfilled. And I took it as my great quest to make it come true! One of you Tom Riddles, sons of a Muggle and a Squib, will unleash Death! And when it happens… when the final darkness descends upon the world, you will know that it was all my doing! Hah, you pathetic little Dark Lord, Tom! You are nothing but a puppet dancing on my strings!"
He stared at me with such a deranged grin and gleam in his eyes that I had no doubt that he was utterly insane. My hand shook with anger and my chin was starting to hurt from clenching my teeth so hard. Rookwood laughed and continued,
"It was so easy to make an arrogant little Mudblood to think he was entitled to be the Dark Lord! Your other self could never see how I have been his superior all along. I AM THE DARK LORD!"
"Avada Kedavra," I growled.
Green light flashed, and Rookwood collapsed. I felt a surge of relief, but then, before I had managed to form any coherent thoughts, a silvery something left Rookwood's corpse. As it drifted towards the Veil, I heard a ghostly, echoing voice,
"This was the fate I was foretold of… everything has been set in motion… and with my passing… He comes!"
My relief evaporated and was replaced by an even worse distress. I had a terrible feeling that I had somehow ensured my final defeat.
"Why did you do that?" Lucius asked. "You wanted him alive!"
"It was foolish of me to think so," I muttered. "He was too dangerous to be left alive."
This Voldemort business had to be dealt with quickly. As I led the defected Death Eaters through the room of the Veil to meet Dumbledore and to explain the situation, I could not keep my eyes off the ancient archway.
I hoped it was just my imagination when I heard an echoing whisper in Rookwood's voice coming from the archway,
"Three keys to open the way… two more for you to find…"
Later that night, Dumbledore sat in the Headmaster's office at Hogwarts and looked at the chess board. He removed the two black rooks representing the Lestrange brothers, the two black knights representing Bellatrix and Dolohov, the black queen representing Rookwood and many of the black pawns. Sirius Black had not done anything in such a long time that Dumbledore also removed the black bishop representing him. He took one white pawn off the board for poor Sturgis. Finally, he moved the other black bishop representing Lucius Malfoy and some of the remaining black pawns away from the black formation and turned their colour to grey to symbolise their supposed defection. What remained of the black pieces were one queen and but a handful of pawns.
And of course, the black king stood alone in a corner.
Posted on the 26th of June, 2021.