The Storm Breaks
Voldemort waited in his room in Grimmauld Place. His forces were gathered—they had been ordered to strike simultaneously at every Order of the Phoenix target that they had. The Weasley Burrow was protected by the Fidelius Charm, but even there he had stationed Rowle outside, just in case any of the Weasleys headed outside the confines of the protective spell.
Mentally, he went through his Death Eaters and where they were located—thinking hard on whether he had overlooked anything.
Severus Snape had informed him that himself and McGonagall had been called to Hogwarts for a meeting with Dumbledore. That was unfortunate, Minerva McGongall had been a priority target.
His second spy, Crouch Jr had informed him that he had gathered the two Order members keeping watch on the Dursley to this home—Sturgis Podmore and Arabella Figg. They would die in the attack on Moody's home. Crabbe and Goyle had been assigned that target—the lowest ranked Death Eaters. Crouch Jr had orders to detain one of them to help maintain his illusion as a member of the Order.
The Longbottom House – Bellatrix Lestrange, Rabastan Lestrange and Rodolphus Lestrange had been assigned that duty. Augusta Longbottom was a very powerful witch, plus, it pleased him to have her murdered by the same three who had turned her son and daughter-in-law into mindless, dribbling, simpletons.
Dedalus Diggle – the man was a halfwit, but as a member of the Order of the Phoenix, his had to fall. Abaddon Nott and his son, Theodore Nott, had been assigned that task.
Bill Weasley – he lived at a place called Shell Cottage alone. By all accounts he was one of the more talented members of the Order of the Phoenix so he had assigned the Carrow Twins, Alexto and Amycus to see to him. The pair were idiots, but they were good duelists and knew a lot of dark magic. He felt certain they would be able to see to him.
Emmeline Vance – Voldemort didn't know much about her, other than she was a long-time member of the Order of the Phoenix. Mulciber Sr and Mulciber Jr had been assigned the task of murdering her.
Hestia Jones – a young witch, quite unremarkable. She had once been a reserve quidditch player before not making the cut. The two Averys, Julian I and Julian II had been given the job of murdering her.
Finally, there was Fleur Delacour. Again, Voldemort didn't know much of her. She was French and had been a Triwizard Champion, so she would prove difficult. He had decided to assign his most powerful duelist, Antonin Dolohov and Gibbon to kill her.
Macnair would have been a useful wizard to send, but he, Robson and Travers were his envoy to the giants. Miles Selwyn was his agent at Saint Mungoes Hospital. Fenrir Greyback was mustering the werewolves. Pettigrew, Snape and Crouch Jr were his spys in the Order, Yaxley was his eyes and ears in the Ministry. The Lees—Ivan Lee and his wife Rosemary Lee—were tracking Karkaroff. Lucius Malfoy was to remain by his side as his assistant along with Percival Pyrites.
As for the rest of the Order, Percy Weasley he had decided to leave. Nobody else knew that he was secretly a spy of Dumbledore's within the Ministry. If he struck Weasley, then that would tip off Dumbledore that Snape was a spy. He would walk free, for now.
There would only be the Weasley family—Molly, Arthur, Charlie and Percy, Minerva McGonagall, Albus Dumbledore, Mundungus Fletcher, Rubeus Hagrid and Elphias Doge left. Molly and Arthur Weasley were protected by the Fidelius Charm. Charlie Weasley was in Romania. McGonagall at Hogwarts. Rubeus Hagrid abroad. Fletcher and Doge, neither of his spies had found their location.
He smiled. Everything was falling into place. Soon, the Order of the Phoenix would be shattered.
Albus Dumbledore
Albus Dumbledore felt sad as he sat in his office. Soon, many of his allies and friends—people who he had known for years, would die. And there was nothing he could do unless he tipped his hand that Severus Snape was on his side, and that wouldn't do. Severus being close to Voldemort was key to his plans.
He tried to tell himself that it was all for the greater good, but he couldn't help to feel sickened at himself. He had chosen who to sacrifice and who to save purely on how they could better serve the Order of the Phoenix and better serve the greater good. Did that make him no different than Lord Voldemort, who callously threw lives away to further his goals.
Was it worth it? Was keeping Severus Snape by Lord Voldermort's side really worth sacrificing so many lives? It had to be—it would lead to the fall of Lord Voldemort, Dumbledore was sure of it. In a war, people had to die, and by dying, they would help to ensure Lord Voldemort's final defeat.
"I am not like him," Dumbledore announced to himself, standing up from his desk. He sacrificed when he had no choice, to save the lives of everybody. He would even sacrifice his own life if it meant ridding the world of darkness.
There came a knock at his door. Dumbledore took a moment to compose himself. Severus and Minerva had arrived. Suddenly, the idea hit him-there was a way to avoid catastrophe. It would be difficult, and he would need assistance from somebody who he would rather not turn to, but, still, it could be done. Nobody needed to die tonight.
Corban Yaxley
"I just came by to say congratulations, minister, on an impressive victory," Yaxley said, forcing himself to smile as he shook Minister Lockhart's hand.
"Why thank you, Corban-nice to see you so gracious in defeat. You fought a good campaign, I must say, but when you're up against the likes of me ..." he trailed off and winked.
Yaxley felt the urge to suddenly hex the pompous, grinning arrogant fool. But instead, he forced himself to smile. He had fresh orders now to integrate himself with Gilderoy Lockhart and keep a close eye on him. The best way to do that was by sucking up. He also had orders to use subtlety in an attempt to guide the hand of the Minister.
"Well, if it's not me, I'm glad it's you," said Yaxley. "The Ministry needs a strong hand in these desperate times."
"That it does, Corban, that it does!" Lockhart agreed. "But don't fear, with me at the helm, we'll soon see You-Know-Who put away, won't we? Now, if you'll excuse me, my good man, it's time for my official portrait. Best to get the important matters out of the way first, eh?" he winked and headed into his office.
"Moron," Yaxley muttered, heading to his own. He felt pleased however, the first seeds of sucking up to Lockhart had been sprinkled.
The Aurors
"Remember—Minister Lockhart wants them alive," Kingsley Shacklebolt said, pacing around the room. Before him were the Aurors who were going to carry out the raids on Death Eater properties. "Try to use stunners. Level 1 curses ONLY in an emergency situation. Strike fast and strike hard. I want this clean. No escapees."
John Dawlish had raised his hand. "What about other family members?" he asked. "Don't some of them have kids at home."
"The children are to be brought to the Ministry too," Shacklebolt said. They will be rehomed with family members if possible, or with a Ministry-supplied foster program if not."
This was a shit show he thought, a bad idea from start to finish. If the relations of the people he was going to be arresting tonight weren't supporters of Voldemort already, they would be once they see their mothers and fathers and grandparents and uncles thrown behind bars with little evidence.
"Any more questions?" he asked.
A young Auror called Nymphadora Tonks had raised her hand.
"Yes?" he asked, fixing his gaze on her. She had a lot of talent. She had been trained by Alastor Moody and could easily be the head Auror one day.
"What if we see ... him?" she asked.
Muttering broke out at these words and Shacklebolt silenced it by slamming his hand on the table in front of him.
"Get out of there," he said, simply. "None of us is prepared for a showdown with You-Know-Who yet. If you see him there, or suspect he is present then abort the operation immediately. Your safety comes first. I will not throw lives away needlessly."
"If we can take him out though, the war will be over now," Dawlish said.
Shacklebolt stared at him for a few seconds. "None of us can 'take him out'." he said, slowly. "You-Know-Who's skills are far beyond any of us. "You will abort the mission and get of there. Leave You-Know-Who to Albus Dumbledore or, an organised ambush featuring numerous Aurors. Do not engage. I repeat. Do not engage You-Know-Who."
Gilderoy Lockhart
Gilderoy Lockhart tried not to fidget as Amadeus Parkinson did his portrait which he would hang on his office wall. He was wearing his official robes of office and had also worn a pair of glasses to make himself look more intelligent. His hair had taken four hours to get just right—the exact right amount of waviness.
As much as he enjoyed having his portrait done, he was a little on edge. Right now, his Aurors were carrying out the first of his operations against You-Know-Who. This would make a huge impact if they pulled it off. What a way to enter the office, by making a number of arrests immediately. The public would love him.
"Go through your proposal?" he said to the third person in the room. It was Dolores Umbridge, a witch he didn't like, but who did have some interesting suggestions. He felt she would be an important ally if he could keep her on a tight leash and get her to drop some of the blood purity nonsense she spouted. Some of his friends were muggleborns and were just as talented as almost an other witch or wizard. He himself was halfblood and was a wizard up there with the likes of Albus Dumbledore and Lord Voldemort.
"Well, Minister—it's like this. I think we need to push ahead with the containment facilities for werewolves. The Aurors have brought back reports that Fenrir Greyback is recruiting. If we let his army grow it will be a disaster. They are his natural allies. We need to contain the rest of the population before it gets out of hand."
Lockhart thought on her words. She had made sense. Werewolves were flocking to Greyback and a Werewolf army would be a strong addition to Lord Voldemort's forces. And yet, he couldn't do it.
"No," he said, firmly.
"I will not throw Werewolves into containment facilities just because they might join You-Know-Who. Many werewolves are good people with an unfortunate condition." he said.
Dolores Umbridge's voice turned icy cold. "That didn't seem to matter with your operation against Death Eaters families."
"I'm the Minister, you speak out of turn, Dolores," Lockhart said, irritated that one of his underlings would address him like that.
"Sorry, Minister, but ..."
"That's a different situation. We have strong evidence that they are supporters of You-Know-Who. The Werewolves, we don't."
He turned back to Parkinson and fixed his smile back on his face. He hoped he had made the right call.
Parkinson had only started work for another five minutes before there came a knock at the door and Percy Weasley entered. "Floo network call for you, Minister," he said, importantly.
"Can't it wait?" Lockhart asked, irritably.
"It's Professor Dumbledore," said Percy. "He needs your help."