Previously on Defiance…
"Muggle. Glamour. The wards and the charms detect magical glamour, not mundane."
"And how exactly do you know that?"
Harry took out a little box out of his robes. "This, is something I had been working alongside one of my masters at the Guild." He held out the box. It was barely larger than a matchbox. "This tiny little contraption is something you call a ward analyzer. It does not break wards. It does not tamper with them. It simply reads them. It's similar to the map you created at school except that all it does is read and recognize wards and locations." He smirked. "I put it in Dumbledore's robes when he left for Nurmengard."
Sirius's face shifted into a hesitant grin.
The general idea of Nurmengard is that it was a fortress that was converted into a makeshift prison by Grindelwald, however that couldn't really be far from the truth. From a closer look, Nurmengard was a humongous dome-shaped edifice, with a variety of wards and curses interwoven throughout the very fabric of the building. The perimeter of the dome was secured by hit-wizards employed by the ICW with patrols shifting every twelve hours. The guards were authorized to use anything and everything, even Unforgivables. The general policy was- if you do not have enough self-preservation to stop yourself from intruding in, we do not have enough self-control from snuffing your life out.
If one could cross the security forces without claiming his life-insurance, they would be greeted at an entrance which included entering through a door which had the Thief's downfall pouring in as a fountain all day. It acted as a defense against polyjuice or any other concealment charms, and even negated the effects of everything apart from a powerfully cast Imperius curse. From that onwards, was a receptionist's desk and a private bathroom- quite humorous, yes, but after getting wet in the Thief's downfall, most visiting officers needed to dry themselves up, and often wanted some privacy—hence the bathroom. Said officers had to check in at the receptionist's desk and after that, there was a thirty-foot long corridor that led to a lift and was interlaced with intent-based wards connected to various points in the walls that fired stunners should the wards be triggered. At the end of the corridor, was a lift that rose out of the golden dome into one of the two twin towers that snaked their way out of the dome towards the sky, entwining with each other in a serpentine fashion. Inside the twin towers were magic-suppressing prison rooms in which the most dangerous criminals of Magical Europe were locked in. The two towers were densely populated with Lethifolds who were the security inside the twin towers. The outer surfaces of the towers were protected with magic-resistant scales, capable of withstanding even the most powerful blasting curses, created using a special organo-metallic alloy synthesized by researchers at the ICW. At random points in the walls, there were detectors that randomly scanned the environment around them, looking for uncommon magical behavior in the environment around it. A dozen wyverns flew all around the tower, highly trained to attack any type of external intrusion from the skies should it come to their notice. In short, Nurmengard was impenetrable.
"That… is quite difficult." Harry observed, as he studied the holographic projection of Nurmengard that Dumbledore had constructed. He went around the entire thing, observed everything neatly, trying to make sure that he had memorized every single fact about the entire structure.
You sure you can pass in through this security without any problems and break him out?
No reply.
So the great Ignotus Peverell chickened out?
No, you imbecile. I am just thinking. The security is good, that is true. Had it been an open war, it would have been easier. However, to move in, without revealing my presence, I suppose my skills and your power won't be enough.
Then?
I… might need a couple of… enhancements to pull this off.
Okay, and I suppose getting these… enhancements might be another difficult quest altogether.
Oh on the contrary, Potter, they are quite easy to access. One you already have with yourself.
And the others?
Well it might sound ironic given who am I talking to, but I will keep that one to myself for the moment.
Suit yourself.
"Daphne… wake up?"
"Dad…" She tried to speak, but her lips did not move.
"Daphne…"
"Wake up, it is time for me to go. It is time for you to return back and embrace life once again…"
"Dad… I don't want to lose you..." she tried to say, but no words escaped her throat.
"Wake up…"
Her vision cleared, as she slowly lifted her eyelids. The fogginess lifted, as she found herself staring into the bright green eyes of Harry Potter sitting in front of her.
"Hey Daph!"
"Harry… is that really you?"
Harry nodded. Daphne's eyes filled with tears.
"Harry, my father…."
"Shhh… I know." He hugged her, as she cried into his chest. He held her close and then lifted her face to kiss her on her temples. "It is going to be okay." He reassured.
"Harry, I am sorry the way I behaved with- I can't believe I said all of that and then I-" she wept into his chest. "Please forgive me."
"It's okay, you didn't know what you were doing. You were under the influence of the locket. It is okay."
A shadow of hysteria crossed her face as she remembered the locket. "Harry, Harry I couldn't- I saw Dad calling me and I- it engulfed me, and I went with its-it was in my mind and it twisted things up and I was seeing things the way it showed me- I am sorry."
Harry held her close as he reminded himself once again of the reason why he was going to do what he was going to do. "Everything will be okay." He cupped Daphne's face and kissed her. "Everything will be okay, and you will be fine."
"But Harry, what if I again become like-"
"Shhh, you will be fine. You understand me? You are not going to become whatever- whatever it was the locket was trying to turn you into. You are Daphne Greengrass, my betrothed and my would-be-wife. Understand?" he held her face firmly.
Daphne nodded.
"Now get some sleep. I will be telling Tracey and Astoria that you are up."
"Harry- Tori, she hates me. I know she does. The things I did-"
"Daph! Astoria was the one to save you. She and Tracey. They love you and they care for you. Understand this- no one is blaming you for anything. You were sad, and depressed and I wasn't there for you, and that… thing, it took undue advantage of the situation."
"But I could have been more-"
", It was an illusion, Daphne. That's something not even Occlumency can fight. It was not your fault." He paused, slowly getting off her. "Now, I am going out for some work, and Astoria and Tracey will be here until I return. Sound good?"
Daphne bobbed her head slowly.
Harry kissed her on her forehead as he darted out of the room.
"How is she?" Astoria asked. The younger Greengrass had rushed to him as he walked out of the Hospital wing. Harry smiled at her. "She is all right. She is… still a little shaken but I think she remembers what she did while under the influence of the… locket."
"But you said-"
Harry raised his hand. "I know what I said, but she seems to remember some of it, and is feeling very guilty about it. I think you and Tracey should-"
"We will be there." Tracey replied from the side.
"Great. I will ah—it will take me some time to get back. We are… umm, going for some project about the locket thing-"
"It's okay, Harry. We will stay with her, until you return."
"right—err" He took out, what seemed to be a tiny pen from within his robes. "Keep this with you. It will err- keep any annoyances away. Make sure that this stays close to Daphne."
Astoria nodded.
"See you then." Harry returned, before walking away.
"Tori?" Tracey called.
'Yes?"
"I think Daph is quite lucky to have him."
"I agree." Astoria agreed with a smile.
Inside the Room of Requirement, Harry stood all alone, ready for the shift. Taking a deep breath, he thought very clearly.
What do I need to do, for this great plan of yours?
Oh there's nothing great. To be honest, it's quite simple. All you have to do is raise your Occlumency shields to maximum power and then let go of your senses. You will feel yourself floating in your mind space and I can take over. Of course, you will be able to watch what is going on.
Right. Remember your oath.
You don't have to remind me of that, boy. I know what I am doing.
Okay.
Harry raised his shields to maximum power, as he felt his consciousness slowly drifting out of his senses. He sensed agonizing pain fill his senses as he held on to them, feeling Ignotus rushing in to displace him. He held on to his body for a while, throwing all the power into his shields.
Fuck it. Do your worst.
He let go, as a mammoth wave of energy flooded out of him. The energy shone brightly as the souls shifted, with Harry taking the backside as he felt Ignotus take charge.
This feels awfully similar to when I am shifting into Shadow.
"Yes, it does." His voice spoke out, but the one who spoke it was not him. The color of his eyes had shifted to stormy grey instead of the usual bright green. Ignotus felt the body, the energy rushing through his nerves and constricted everything inside his core, in such a refined manner that Harry could never imagine. This was exactly what Master Thüringen had told him to master.
"I know that the staff looks cooler, but I will prefer it to be of my wand length, so…." No sooner had the words left his mouth, his magic shoved inside the staff, manipulating its shape to shorten itself to the original wand length.
"Better." He expressed, "and now, my enhancements…" Ignotus spoke, as he raised his left hand as the Potter invisibility cloak soared out of his trunk. The cloak automatically rose up in the air, folded into itself, becoming much thicker, heavier and transformed itself to form a standard hooded, billowing cloak instead of being the silvery mass of drapes that Harry knew. The cloak automatically flung itself over Ignotus, hiding his face within the hood, with only the stormy grey eyes glowing from the distance.
What did you do to my cloak?
Shut up. And it is not your cloak, it was mine. I made it myself.
Ignotus raised his hands in the air and muttered something obscure, as a wind of magic soared and swirled all around him. The door of the Room banged open as the mythical elder wand soared through the air, resting into his right hand—the magic inside the wand singing as blood and wand were joined at last. The core seemed to sing in tune as wand and master had rejoined, its master come to take control at last.
"My wand… how I have missed you…" Ignotus proclaimed, his fingers caressing the surface of the wand. For some reason, the stone could not appear to him, something that left him confused. It was impossible, the stone would always answer his call, it had to do so. The only way the properties of the stone would be hindered would be-
Ignotus snarled. Someone had bound the stone in another necromantic binding. Given the situation, there was only one form of binding that his summons could not break.
I will kill that bastard. He had the gall to use my stone in a -
What happened?
Nothing. Nothing that you will understand, anyway.
Isn't that the Headmaster's wand?
No, you fool. This is mine, was mine, will always be mine… and now, we walk the path of destruction…
The air around him suddenly seemed to turn foggy, as he vanished with a crack sound. The wards of Hogwarts did not even trigger as they sensed him go.
The security of Nurmengard shifted every twelve hours. This also the same time when the wyverns were called down from the air and fed. The entire thing took place within one hour, and the entire security was back on. For the particular one hour, the Lethifolds were granted exit into the skies as a substitute for the wyverns, and at the first point of an appearing wyvern, the Lethifold swarm would just return into the tower. Apparently, wyvern fire affected the Lethifolds greatly.
Ignotus appeared a few yards away from the main ward perimeter of the dome, holding the Elder wand in his right hand and his staff (shortened to a wand length in his left). He could sense the offensive magics of the wards weaved in a quasi-four dimensional matrices and interspersed all over the dome.
So much magic wasted in protecting a bunch of vermin. Wouldn't it be better to kill them all and be done with it? Good call, now that I think on it.
The cloak activated with his thoughts, providing him complete and impenetrable protection as he walked through the wards as if they weren't even there. He passed through them, using his wandless levitation, not wanting to test if the security had any kind of weight-based wards thrown around. The cloak did mask his magic, but the same could not be said about his mass, and secrecy was of the highest order. It was unfortunate. Extremely, unfortunate.
He silently passed through the compound where the wyvern tamers were busy feeding the wyverns and chatting with each other. Force of habit, Ignotus presumed. After all, no one could really reach this part without having any kind of altercation with the external security.
Time to use one of the boy's own skills. It is a shame we never were able to defeat the Grims and conquer their magic.
What are you going to do? The boy sounded inside his head.
Watch and learn.
He smirked. It was time the boy learnt the true nature of the power he used so casually. He raised his wands and began his work.
The ground security had finished its shift transition and was back into form. The guards had reactivated every single defense, and the wyverns and the Lethifolds were back into their usual positions. The head of security, one Joseph Matthias, also known as Warden Matthias, who was in charge of the security of the dome, bit into the apple in his hand as he walked out of his office room. Nurmengard did not have many visitors, with the sole exception of some extremely high-level Ministry officials who sometimes, came in for a surprise inspection from the ICW. The Supreme Mugwump for instance, had arrived two days ago to interrogate their most notorious prisoner—the dark lord Grindelwald. As it was, the Supreme Mugwump had arrived and passed through all the checks and defenses without triggering anything, proving that he was who he claimed to be and had come in without any unfair intention in mind. Matthias for one, had great respect for a man, who had personally defeated the dark lord and saved entire Europe from burning down. Albus Dumbledore had come in for the inspection, and that meant that the coming five months would have no visitors and no sudden trigger breaches. Normal, uninterrupted days. He had just crossed the receptionist's desk when-
The perimeter wards triggered wildly. He threw the apple into the bin and raced back to his room. The trigger meant one of two things- either someone had come in without previous authorization, or someone had intruded into the dome. Matthias wondered which was a more foolish thing to do.
He raced in front of the wide magical screen inside his room which displayed the recordings of the monitoring charms placed all around the perimeter. What he saw shocked and surprised him beyond belief.
Albus Dumbledore, the Supreme Warlock had just traversed into the secure perimeter without authorization.
"Sir, the intruder resembles Supreme Mugwump. No previous authorization or permit on record, sir." Came the swift voice from the receptionist.
"Send someone from the ground staff to meet him. Follow the usual protocol."
One of the men from Ground Security walked up to the Supreme Mugwump, who was striding into the main compound. The moment he entered into the inner proximity ward, the intent-scanner triggered automatically.
"Initial Scan. Genuine. No malicious intent. Sir."
"Continue. This visit, even if it is the Albus Dumbledore, it is unauthorized. Follow regular instructions for unauthorized intrusion." Matthias ordered.
"Copied, Sir." The ground staff answered instantly. He stood in front of the Supreme Mugwump, who seemed to look a little short of breath. "Supreme Mugwump, sir. Your arrival was not authorized."
"Right you are, my boy," Albus Dumbledore replied. "It has taken me by surprise. My last visit to dark lord Grindelwald got me into a severe problem, one that I am hoping will be solved by another round of interrogation."
Everyone at Nurmengard knew it that Albus Dumbledore had interrogated Grindelwald the other day, with the other man replying back in some obscure language, which Albus Dumbledore had been able to comprehend. Since it was a private interrogation classified under Delta Green, the officers hadn't been allowed to record it, but the guards standing on the outer door had heard a few unfamiliar sounding words before the privacy ward had activated.
"Sir, I hope you understand that protocol demands us that you follow through the usual checks for unauthorized intrusion."
"Of course, of course. The protocols must be followed. Let's be done with them as I am in a bit of hurry today."
The guard smiled. "Right away, Sir."
"Well I will be damned; it is Albus Dumbledore." Mathias thought as the venerated old wizard stepped in, after a thorough wash through the Thief's downfall as he entered through the main entrance, and waved his wand to dry himself off.
"Are there any more security protocols to be followed, Warden Matthias?" Dumbledore inquired.
Matthias looked slightly embarrassed. "Not at all, sir. Just through this lift. We have secured the outer perimeter and performed all checks. Welcome to Nurmengard."
Dumbledore smiled. "You people have a strong security task force. I am impressed."
Matthias smiled reluctantly. "The best in the world, Sir. There is no way someone can cause any problems here at Nurmengard while our security-"
BOOOM!
A huge wave of magic crashed against the dome's outer periphery, slamming against Matthias who fell down on the floor. Dumbledore had luckily conjured up a shield to prevent the shockwave from getting to him. Matthias quickly rebounded back and yelled up into his communication earring. "REPORT!"
"Sir, the wyverns have gotten out of control. One of them belched flames into one of the major wardstones resulting in the shockwave, sir."
"WHICH ONE WAS IT?"
"The anti-Lethifold unit, sir."
"DAMN!" Matthias roared in fury. Wand waving out, he rushed out of the room. He never saw Albus Dumbledore smirk back and disappear from the main corridor. The game was afoot.
The anti-Lethifold ward was perhaps the most-sensitive and vulnerable ward in the entire security. Though, considering everything, it was not a vulnerability since the wyverns were more than capable of handling the situation if the Lethifolds demonstrated any unusual activity. Nobody ever thought of the possibility that the wyverns could also destroy the anti-Lethifold wardstone, leaving the ground security completely vulnerable.
For some reason, the wyverns had broken out of control and were raging down over the Ground security, while the Lethifolds were forcing through the other stations, wrecking down everything now that they had their chance to get free and attack their captors after so long. The ward had been responsible for keeping them inside, when Grindelwald himself had trapped them inside the twin towers, and then the ICW had simply taken advantage of their situation.
"READY?" Matthias roared, "PATRONUSES AT THREE!" He commanded as he took position among the rest of his security team. One half of the entire contingent were bust trying to subdue the dragons, leaving him and half of his staff to fight against the three hundred Lethifold swarm that shot towards them.
"Dumbledore, sir, a little help would be appreciated!" Matthias called out. Receiving no reply, he looked back, "Dumbledore-", his eyes widened as he witnessed the trail of blood roll down from the receptionist's desk.
Damn!
"AVADA KEDAVRA!"
Nine pairs of sickly green killing curses shot towards Ignotus who simply raised his wands and slammed them into the ground, raising two humongous rocks from the ground to resist the curses as he disappeared from their sight, only to appear simultaneously on left and right and fired powerful severing hexes. The guards put up high-powered shields to deflect the curses, when the very same curses disappeared midway only to come from the back, severing their body parts. Ignotus stood, watching the mangled remains of the guards drop down on the floor.
That was easy.
He disappeared again.
Now, how do I get into the towers without passing through the lift? Oh right, flying.
He ascended through the main air vent, the magic of the cloak allowing him to pass undetected through the layers of magical wards weaved in the space all around him. To think that his future descendants thought of this…. Beauty as an invisibility cloak, it was almost an insult to his masterpiece. The cloak was not just a cloak; it was a piece from the very Veil of Death that had been existent in Albion since Time immemorial. Enchanted to thestral skin and powered by the Peverell family magic, the cloak simply turned the wearer into someone who was both alive and dead at the same time, making him completely immune to any kind of curses but the strongest of those employing necromantic or soul-magic. The wand of death, to kill people and send their souls to the afterlife, the stone of resurrection, cut out from the very archway of the Veil of Death, used to resurrect the dead and use them for a time being, and finally the cloak-one which simply reduced the wearer to someone who was untouched any spell while under it, insurmountable, unconquerable, Just like Death himself.
To think that their glorified event of mastering the power of Death's own antiquities, was now reduced to a book for children's stories… it was an insult. He suppressed the urge to burn the world once again. If not for the stupid boy who had forced an oath out of him-it still boggled him how the priorities of his own, reborn soul could be so… pedestrian.
He reached out of the dome and finally landed on the first level of the tower. According to what the old man had shown him, Grindelwald was held somewhere on the second level, along with a variety of other notorious prisoners. Briefly, he played with the idea of extracting Grindelwald out while setting Fiendfyre to the rest, at least by that way, he would be fulfilling his duties, but then again….
He smirked.
An entire swarm of Lethifolds were still inside, and sensing the intruder who had suddenly revealed himself, the entire swarm floated towards him, their rattling sounds increasing with excitation about a real, powerful prey to feed on. Said prey was standing in a cross path, holding two wands in either hand and smirking at them while the swarm of predators flew towards him, ready to eat up his soul… It had been ages since they had tasted a full soul… it was almost maddening.
Ignotus saw the Lethifolds edge closer, as he tightened his grasp on his wands. A part of his duties were to make sure that these… vermin were obliterated from the mortal world. It seemed that ever since he had left the mortal plane, these… abominations had bred and expanded their population to alarming levels. Seriously, could he expect no one to get up from sitting on their arses and do some productive work?
If you want something done proper, do it yourself.
He raised his wands up towards the incoming horde, and smiled. Instantly, a flurry of light spears shot out of his wand, piercing through the Lethifolds, injuring them beyond belief. Realizing that the prey was actually a predator who could actually, unbelievably, kill them, the Lethifolds sensed their plight and turned away, but the light spears raining on them continued their slaughter, until not even one was left alive… if those abominations were alive in the first place.
He smiled.
Feels good to be back. No matter what anyone says, the satisfaction of finishing one's job is the greatest.
He walked through the second floor corridor, the mundane mask still etched on his face, while the cloak making sure that his magic was not detected by any person or ward. To think that his descendants used his cloak like a silvery bedsheet to make themselves invisible, instead of rendering it to its original hooded-cloak form was hopelessly disappointing. The Potters had indeed demolished the name of the Peverells. He would have to do something about that soon.
In front of him was something akin to a labyrinth. The walls were magic-resistant (officially, that is) and behind them, were tiny cubicles, one of which housed Gellert Grindelwald. Layers upon layers of powerful wards were interlaced in this place.
Let's see how powerful the wards are. I believe the old man was in the third cell of the fourth row if I entered this maze from... here.
Walking through the rows, he found his destination. There, inside the cubicle, a half-dead old man lay fallen on the floor. Anyone else would have believed it as fact, but Ignotus could sense a deception from a mile away.
"Get up, old man, I am here to get you."
Gellert Grindelwald turned his head slowly, his eyes- one jet black and the other, a complete white eye, with only a sliver of silver to prove that it had a pupil, looked at Ignotus, who stood outside his cell. Despite staying inside the prison for half a century, his eyes reeked of a constrained power and frightful intelligence.
"Have you come to kill me?" He asked slowly.
"No, but I will if you don't stop with your pretentious behavior. Get up, and I will get you out of here." Ignotus answered, the voice-modulating charm changing his voice effectively once again. The wardstone responsible for nullifying any wand magic cast in the room was active and there was no way he would shatter it. It would release all the prisoners, and that was not something he wished to do.
He closed his eyes as he increased the magic flowing through his nerves, and shifted his fist into stone. He smirked. The boy was indeed, quite resourceful. If only he wasn't as headstrong and close-minded, he could have taught him so much. It was unfortunate that things were the way they were.
"Have you come to free him? Please free me out of this place too. I will give you anything you want." Said a voice behind him. Ignotus spun back to see another prisoner, banging his head. He looked back at Gellert, giving a pointed look towards the other man. "Who's that?"
"A mass-murderer. Sentenced to life-long imprisonment at Nurmengard." Gellert replied offhandedly.
Ignotus smirked. With one single blow, he shattered the doors of both of the cubicles, freeing both of them. With one single look, he wandlessly fired a petrifaction hex at Grindelwald who dropped down on the floor, before he transfigured him into a little rat, before stunning the rat for good measure and putting him back inside the robes.
Step one complete. Time for step two.
He raised his hands and looked at the other man. "Run out of the room, and wait for me." The man followed his orders without question.
Time for me to resume my duties.
Huge balls of fire erupted out of both hands, as he merged them, transfiguring and retransfiguring them in matter of seconds, as the flames heated up exponentially. Satisfied that the fireball was now almost equivalent to pure Fiendfyre, he threw up a powerful locking ward all around the room and threw the fireball towards the other cells. The prisoners cried out in agony as the cursed flame rained upon them, obliterating them from existence, as Ignotus walked out, the cloak allowing him to pass through the locking wards effortlessly.
Wastes of magic and life…
He walked out of the room, as the other prisoner ran up to him. "What's next?"
"We break out. Follow me." Ignotus hissed before he blasted through the second floor, blasting through one of the air vents that the Lethifolds used to float out of the compound into the atmosphere. Holding the man firmly, he summoned his magic, transporting them far away from the outer perimeter of Nurmengard.
The two of them reappeared on the ground, the other man immediately falling down on his feet. "Thank you," he panted, "thank you for saving me."
Ignotus smirked. "I only agreed to break you out of prison. I never said anything about saving you." His palm was upon the man's face before the man could even register his words. The last thing the prisoner saw was the stormy grey eyes before his world was inundated in crimson flames.
The next day…
An excerpt from the Daily Prophet…
DESTRUCTION AT NURMENGARD! THE 'UNBREAKABLE' PRISON BROKEN!
An event which shocked the entire world happened the previous day when under very shocking circumstances, a security breach occurred at Nurmengard, leading to not only destruction of the security compound, but also breakout of one prisoner. The true reasons for the security breach are yet to be discovered.
The previous day afternoon, the security compound reported that the Supreme Mugwump Albus Dumbledore himself had visited the prison despite any advance authorization mentioning his arrival, which was highly suspicious. However, the Head of Security reported that the imposter (since the real Albus Dumbledore was busy presiding in an ICW emergency session at the very moment) had indeed passed through the intent-based wards and the Thief's downfall. How it had actually been possible is a matter of speculation. Have terrorists finally come up with something that can resist the effects of Thief's downfall, which is powerful enough to wash out the effects of Imperius Curse, one of the three Unforgivables, the casting of even one of which is enough to throw the caster into Azkaban if reported and caught. (To know more about the Unforgivables, please visit Page 4).
The Head of Security, Warden Matthias also stated that due to some odd phenomenon, the highly trained wyverns attacked the wardstone holding up the anti-Lethifold ward. Readers would be interested to know that the prison of Nurmengard was home to around three-hundred Lethifolds, the exact amount being uncertain. While it is now established that Albus Dumbledore himself had nothing to do with this, the motives of the security breach are still uncertain.
"The entire prison room on the second floor has been obliterated using powerful flames. A paradoxical and explained phenomenon since the wardstone responsible for nullifying any magic cast there is intact. All of the prisoners, including the notorious dark lord Gellert Grindelwald was killed in the flames, though it has been impossible to tell since the flames have left no evidence.
The monitoring wards however, do show one peculiar thing. One of the prisoners, one Gareth Zabini, mass-murderer who had been sentenced to lifetime imprisonment at Nurmengard for his crimes, had been seen running out of the second floor. No image of the intruder has been obtained, for reasons unknown. It is speculated that the intruder had come to extract Gareth Zabini out from Nurmengard, though why the intruder had killed the other prisoners is uncertain," Warden stated.
"The ICW hit-wizard contingent has been called in to look for Gareth Zabini, along with any kind of trace regarding the identity of the intruder. We expect some leads from them quite soon." Said Sebastian Delacour, the ICW representative from France.
Whether the intruder only wanted to break Gareth Zabini out, or had some other intentions, is yet to be revealed. The fact however, holds that there is an incredibly sharp and powerful terrorist in the magical world, one who has broken into Nurmengard. The people of Magical Britain are requested to report any incidents or behavior of questionable nature that has been happening in and around Magical Britain.
Meanwhile...
Far away in the sandy world of Egypt, an old man stood in front of a huge fortress that suddenly manifested in front of him. Beside him, stood two other people- one being the Supreme Mugwump, and the other being the very person who had freed him from Nurmengard. The magical fortress pulsed with eldritch energies as Gellert Grindelwald whispered some obscure incantations, as a great bridge manifested between them and the fortress.
"Welcome," he said in a dramatic voice, "To Castle Negrul. The Home to the Necromancer's Guild."