Disclaimer: I am not J.K. Rowling or Timothy Zahn.

Grindelwald, Ogden, and Crouch stand on the bridge of the Ministry cruiser Nurmengard.

First Officer. All units signal ready, Admiral.

Grindelwald. Excellent. Prepare for lightspeed. [to Ogden] Captain? Is my ship ready?

Ogden. Nurmengard is fully at your command, Admiral.

Grindelwald. Excellent. [to Crouch] Mr. Crouch. Are my other two task forces ready?

Crouch. They are. They await merely my command.

Grindelwald. Then command them.

Grindelwald strokes the hinkypunk on his shoulder.

Captain. Begin the count.

Ogden. Yes, sir.

Ogden prepares the jump to Apparition.

Second Officer. Speed, point three.

Ogden. Acknowledged.

The Ministry cruiser vanishes and reappears near the region of Avalon.

All brooms, launch. [to First Officer] Response?

First Officer. Defending fighters launching from the third moon. Nothing larger visible as yet.

Grindelwald. Get a location on that broom base and detail the Slytherin to move in and destroy it.

First Officer. Yes, sir.

The Ministry cruiser Slytherin, flanked by Ministry brooms, moves in on an island off of Avalon.

Ogden. Change course to the farther of the twin regions. Brooms to set up an advance screen. The Durmstrang will take the other planet. [to Grindelwald] Any special orders, Admiral?

Grindelwald. Stay with the program for now, Captain. Our preliminary data appears to have been adequate. You may choose targets at will. Remind your gunners once again that the plan is to hurt and frighten, not obliterate.

Ogden. [to First Officer] Relay that. Have the brooms so reminded, as well.

As the attack proceeds, Grindelwald turns to glance at Crouch.

Grindelwald. Mr. Crouch. What's the status of the attacks in the other two regions.

Crouch. They proceed.

Ogden turns to glances at Crouch, whose intense concentration has affected his appearance and voice.

Ogden. Are you all right, Mr. Crouch?

Grindelwald. Save your concern, Captain. He's doing what he enjoys most: controlling people.

Crouch. [laughs] I told you once, Grand Admiral Grindelwald, that this is not true power.

Grindelwald. So you've said. Can you tell what sort of resistance they're facing?

Crouch. [frowns] Not precisely. But neither force is in danger. That much I can feel in their minds.

Grindelwald. Good. Then have the Dark Arts break off from the rest of its group and report back to the rendezvous to await us.

Ogden. Sir . . . ?

Grindelwald glares at Ogden.

Grindelwald. Attend to your duties, Captain.

Ogden. [with realization] Yes, Admiral.

joins the other Ministry cruisers and brooms in the attack on Avalon.

[aside] It appears the battle is going well . . . remarkably well, in fact. From these charts, it would seem that we are performing forty percent better than usual.

Horrified, Ogden glances at Crouch, who is magically guiding the fleet with his powers.

I never really gave much thought to Grindelwald's theory as to how we lost at the Forbidden Forest. Now, suddenly the argument is no longer up to debate. I had never quite understood what gave Crouch the right to add the word Master to his title. Now . . . now I know.

Third Officer. Getting another set of transmissions. A new group of midrange regional cruisers launching.

Grindelwald. Have the Cruciatus move to intercept.

Third Officer. Yes, sir. We've now also pinpointed the location of their distress transmissions, Admiral.

Ogden. Order squadron four to move in and destroy it.

Grindelwald. Belay that. We'll be long gone before any reinforcements can arrive. We might as well let Dumbledore's Army waste its resources rushing useless forces to the rescue. In fact, I believe it's time for us to take our leave. Order brooms back to their ships. All ships to lightspeed as soon as their brooms are aboard.

Ogden taps keys at his station, giving Nurmengard's status a quick prelightspeed check.

[to Crouch] Order the other two forces to break off their attacks, as well. I presume you are in close enough contact to do that?

Crouch. You question me too much, Grand Admiral Grindelwald . . . far too much.

Grindelwald. I question all that is not yet familiar to me. Call them back to the rendezvous point.

Crouch. As you command.

Ogden glances uncomfortably at Crouch.

Ogden. [aside] Testing Crouch's abilities in combat situations is all fine and proper. But there is a thing as pushing things too far.

Grindelwald. [sensing Ogden's unease] He must learn who's in command here.

Ogden. Yes, sir. [aside] As brilliant as Grindelwald is, sometimes I wonder if he realizes the kind of power he awakened on Horcrux.

Grindelwald. Good. Have there been any further leads on those mole miners I asked for?

Ogden. Ah . . . no, sir. At least not in anything like the numbers you want. I think the South West region is still our best bet. Or it will be if we can find a way around the problems of the sunlight intensity there.

Grindelwald. The problems will be minimal. If the jump is done with sufficient accuracy, the Durmstrang will be in direct sunlight for only a few minutes each way. Its hull can certainly handle that much. We'll simply need to take a few days first to shield the viewports and remove external sensors and communications equipment.

Ogden nods.

Crouch. Grand Admiral Grindelwald.

Grindelwald. Yes, Mr. Crouch.

Crouch. Where are my Aurors, Grand Admiral Grindelwald? You promised me that your tame vampires would bring me my Aurors.

Standing nearby, Sanguini stirs at these words.

Grindelwald. Patience, Mr. Crouch. Their preparations took time, but they're now complete. They await merely the proper time to act.

Crouch. That time had best be soon. I grow tired of waiting.

Grindelwald glances at Ogden.

Grindelwald. As do we all.

Exit all.