DISCLAIMER: This story is based on characters and situations created and
owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to
Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros.,
Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is
intended.
((If anyone was confused as to why they can't fight muggles, it was explained earlier in the fic. It's not a cannon element, it's my own thing. However, if you missed that or I wasn't clear I apologize and the start of this chapter should clear it up (I hope).))
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I am only one but I am one. I cannot do everything but I can do something
and I will not let what I cannot do interfere with what I can do."
-Edward Everett Hale
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Every group had entered the Death Eater club and begun to battle except for Bill and Charlie's squad. On their forward charge they had had no wizarding attacks, nut at the last moment they were ambushed by a group of Muggles. They had immediately used spells to disarm the attackers, but then were pushed to defend themselves from a physical attack. Some defense spells could be used, but too often they found they found themselves trying to fight against the well trained muggles.
A particularly large man with a shaved head and black goatee went after Charlie, sending a hard blow to his jaw. When Bill rushed to help he was kicked hard in the ribs and was on his back gasping for a gulp of air in a split second. One woman who was well trained in a form of martial arts seemed unstoppable. Out of desperation, one of the wizards sent a stunning spell at her. It worked, but the man was suddenly howling in pain, and Bill watched as the poor fool lost all his magic powers.
Everyone had been warned not to attack the Muggles with magic, that only defense spells were allowed. Going against the ancient of muggle safety would result in loss of powers. Of course, this didn't pertain to all wizards. Voldemort for example, could kill or torture Muggles through a magic older than the law of Muggle protection. He would undoubtedly be teaching the method to his Death Eaters and no one would be able to stop his controlling the world. That was, unless they could stop him before then.
A round of gun shot was heard and everyone who could still move scrambled for cover.
As Bill crawled across the pavement on his stomach he muttered aloud, "Why are we so weak to against Muggles?" He took out his wand and disarmed the attackers once more. Then aiming his wand in front of the attackers he created a large crack in the road which several of the idiots tumbled into. It wasn't using magic directly on them, and the other members of the squad soon caught on, using spells to create holes in the roadway, and blasting pieces of concrete off of the buildings which then rained down on the Muggles.
Just as they began to take the upper hand more guns came out. "WE DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THIS!" Bill though angrily, glancing at the Death Eater club which was looking both very close and too far. A bomb exploded nearby and Bill covered his face as the debris sprayed everywhere. Dust filled the air and he couldn't see anything.
More gun firing was heard. "CHARLIE!" Bill yelled into the dust filled air, hoping to hear a response.
"Yeah?" Came a tired voice, and Charlie stumbled into view, his lip split and bleeding.
"Let's get out of here! We can conjure a fog to cover us as we make a run for the club."
Charlie nodded, and set to spraying a gray smoke from his wand as Bill recollected what remained of the squad.
In a desperate run they all made it to the club, unaware that something other than the fog was covering their backs.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hermione was at the tail of her squad as they headed into the club. The walls of building were in shambles, and she thought that Chrome had done a grand job of blowing everything up.
She looked off in the distance and saw that Charlie and Bill's squad was just finally making a run for it. She tried to see what they were fleeing from with such vigor, but a fog obscured her view. She heard more gun shots and the fog was beginning to recede. She saw a group of Muggles trying to make their way after the fleeing squad, but one lone man was holding them off. She took out a pair of magic binoculars that Harry had bought her at the Quidditch Cup during the summer before forth year.
She immediately realized that the man was Chrome. She realized that Dumbledore was right, he was good at what he did. He was ruthless, quick to kill and also had reflexes so fast it seemed that he didn't even move his arm and the attackers were on the ground. Unable to watch any longer, she headed into the chaos of the Death Eater club.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Dust." That was all Ron could comprehend once inside the club. Everywhere dust obscured his view, screams and shouts deafening him. The battle was intense, everywhere things shattered and people cursed. He shot off his own shots but could not be sure who he was hitting. Taking over the club would be no small challenge, but he attacked it with an angry rage and a un- touchable determination.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Special Task Force had led the Spell Breaking Squad through the club's chaos, but not without difficulty. They covered the squad as they went about their work, and they were done surprisingly fast.
With the barriers removed, the Special Force Task followed Harry into the upstairs casino, they were ambushed by a small group of drunken Death Eaters, but they easily knocked them out. With confident strides they made their way through the casino. The floor was littered with debris from the chaos that had mounted in the room, and it seemed eerily empty as they made their way towards the back room.
Harry felt a swell of anticipation in the pit of his stomach as he neared the back room. It was the very back room he had saved Hermione at, a place filled with an odd assortment of emotion. He had both feared the room, and loved the feeling it brought him, knowing he was right under the so called "best of the best" in death eater's noses. Now that room would lead them to the capture of Voldemort's inner circle, and hopefully, to the Voldemort himself.
With a deep a breath Harry led them around a bend where the two towering guards stood, still posted by the door. One of the guards drew his wand and aimed a killing curse at Harry, who just barely dodged it. With a forward motion of his hand and a mutter of words, Dumbledore sent one of the guards to the ground. Taking advantage of Dumbledore's preoccupation, the other guard sent a killing curse at the head master. Harry quickly summoned a chair to fly through the air and deflect the shot, and when another curse was fired at him, Altair quickly took charge in killing the guard. They pressed forward to the room. Forcing open the doors they waited for the dust to settle to attack. Then the real dueling commenced.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As Charlie and Bill's squad headed into the club, Chrome fought alone to stop the advancing Muggles.
"Shoot, punch, kick, shoot, punch, kick.. This is getting old." Chrome thought as he fought. A stream of blood was coming from just above his eye, rendering him half blind. He felt himself getting sore and his super human energy was beginning to give out.
"Why am I doing this?" He mumbled out loud as he knocked another attacker of his feet. He didn't know, but he felt he had to keep the Muggles held back for as long as possible. His heart was pounding without mercy against his rib cage, and head throbbed along with it. The fog around him was disappearing and he knew soon he'd be in clear view of all gunmen.
He didn't want to give up however, and stood his ground, knowing it was suicide. "Go down in glory." He thought, though none were watching his heroics, and few would mourn his passing.
As the crack of single gun shot filled his ears, and he fell.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The back room of the casino was like hell let loose. The Death Eaters were fast with their wands, Harry had to give them that. Mad Eye Moody was already down, and Harry didn't know if he was dead or unconscious. Kingsley had a few deep lacerations, and Harry suspected Kingsley would pass out shortly. Dumbledore and Altair were holding their ground, though not without any difficulty, despite how good they were. It came down to the fact that they were out numbered.
Avery, Malfoy, Farrier, Lestrange and the others were powerful wizards, and they took much effort to fight.
A calm cool voice split through the chaos and Harry turned towards, to see that it was Altair reciting a powerful spell. A vacuum seemed to come up behind the Death Eaters, sucking them back. Harry watched with confusion, as Altair stood there, robes blowing wildly about her and foreign words coming from her mouth.
"She cannot maintain the spell for much longer." Harry said, his voice coming smooth and even from behind Harry, tinted with a heart felt sorrow. "We must press forward towards Voldemort." Dumbledore glanced back at Kingsley, who was still standing. They exchanged brief nods Dumbledore and Harry ran out towards a panel in the wall. Harry had seen the top Death Eaters enter the hidden passage numerous times, and he was sure that it would bring them closest to Voldemort.
Harry coughed from the dust that filled his lungs as he put his hand flat against the panel. "Destructo." He said, and with a powerful blast of splintering wood, the panel was gone and a pitch black room lay before them. Harry looked back at Kingsley, who was preparing to port key any on the Death Eaters to prison, as Altair's spell faded away. Harry turned into the darkness, and Dumbledore followed at his heels.
As they came into the room, Harry conjured a bluish ball of light in the palm of his hand, raising it to observe his surrounding. Everything was so silent; he could hear his own irregular breaths filling his ears, seeming incredibly loud. "I don't think he's here." Harry whispered to Dumbledore.
Saying nothing, Dumbledore headed directly to sheet covered object that Harry had failed to see in the corner of the room. He lifted the sheet, and a gold glow immediately filled the room.
Harry stared down at the object which looked like a glass orb on a stand, filled with a bright gold mist.
"Of course, the Death Eaters never talked with Voldemort directly, they communicated with a seeing orb." Harry said, recognizing the object. His voice filled with a sort of weary fatigue, feeling stupid for having thought they could have found Voldemort so easily.
Dumbledore placed a hand on Harry's shoulder. They were no longer the thin and boney shoulders of a young boy. They were the well muscled shoulders of a man who had suffered every burden. Harry's shoulders had carried the world, and Harry needed to lift that burden. However, the dark lord had eluded them once again. Dumbledore found he had no words of consolation for the young man.
They stood in the darkness, only the orb lighting their surroundings. They let silence reign, unsure of what to do next.
Just then Harry heard a creek of the floor boards, a sound Dumbledore was to old to have heard. Dumbledore was wise, but he had not fought for his life on the streets as Harry had, and did not have Harry's reflexes. Before the old man could turn, a sharp cold sting hit him in the back with a sickening thud. Without having time to comprehend that he'd been stabbed by a throwing knife, the weapon caused him to port key away, leaving Harry alone.
"Looks like it's you and me Potter" said a snake like voice.
"I guess so Riddle." Harry said back.
((If anyone was confused as to why they can't fight muggles, it was explained earlier in the fic. It's not a cannon element, it's my own thing. However, if you missed that or I wasn't clear I apologize and the start of this chapter should clear it up (I hope).))
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I am only one but I am one. I cannot do everything but I can do something
and I will not let what I cannot do interfere with what I can do."
-Edward Everett Hale
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Every group had entered the Death Eater club and begun to battle except for Bill and Charlie's squad. On their forward charge they had had no wizarding attacks, nut at the last moment they were ambushed by a group of Muggles. They had immediately used spells to disarm the attackers, but then were pushed to defend themselves from a physical attack. Some defense spells could be used, but too often they found they found themselves trying to fight against the well trained muggles.
A particularly large man with a shaved head and black goatee went after Charlie, sending a hard blow to his jaw. When Bill rushed to help he was kicked hard in the ribs and was on his back gasping for a gulp of air in a split second. One woman who was well trained in a form of martial arts seemed unstoppable. Out of desperation, one of the wizards sent a stunning spell at her. It worked, but the man was suddenly howling in pain, and Bill watched as the poor fool lost all his magic powers.
Everyone had been warned not to attack the Muggles with magic, that only defense spells were allowed. Going against the ancient of muggle safety would result in loss of powers. Of course, this didn't pertain to all wizards. Voldemort for example, could kill or torture Muggles through a magic older than the law of Muggle protection. He would undoubtedly be teaching the method to his Death Eaters and no one would be able to stop his controlling the world. That was, unless they could stop him before then.
A round of gun shot was heard and everyone who could still move scrambled for cover.
As Bill crawled across the pavement on his stomach he muttered aloud, "Why are we so weak to against Muggles?" He took out his wand and disarmed the attackers once more. Then aiming his wand in front of the attackers he created a large crack in the road which several of the idiots tumbled into. It wasn't using magic directly on them, and the other members of the squad soon caught on, using spells to create holes in the roadway, and blasting pieces of concrete off of the buildings which then rained down on the Muggles.
Just as they began to take the upper hand more guns came out. "WE DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THIS!" Bill though angrily, glancing at the Death Eater club which was looking both very close and too far. A bomb exploded nearby and Bill covered his face as the debris sprayed everywhere. Dust filled the air and he couldn't see anything.
More gun firing was heard. "CHARLIE!" Bill yelled into the dust filled air, hoping to hear a response.
"Yeah?" Came a tired voice, and Charlie stumbled into view, his lip split and bleeding.
"Let's get out of here! We can conjure a fog to cover us as we make a run for the club."
Charlie nodded, and set to spraying a gray smoke from his wand as Bill recollected what remained of the squad.
In a desperate run they all made it to the club, unaware that something other than the fog was covering their backs.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hermione was at the tail of her squad as they headed into the club. The walls of building were in shambles, and she thought that Chrome had done a grand job of blowing everything up.
She looked off in the distance and saw that Charlie and Bill's squad was just finally making a run for it. She tried to see what they were fleeing from with such vigor, but a fog obscured her view. She heard more gun shots and the fog was beginning to recede. She saw a group of Muggles trying to make their way after the fleeing squad, but one lone man was holding them off. She took out a pair of magic binoculars that Harry had bought her at the Quidditch Cup during the summer before forth year.
She immediately realized that the man was Chrome. She realized that Dumbledore was right, he was good at what he did. He was ruthless, quick to kill and also had reflexes so fast it seemed that he didn't even move his arm and the attackers were on the ground. Unable to watch any longer, she headed into the chaos of the Death Eater club.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Dust." That was all Ron could comprehend once inside the club. Everywhere dust obscured his view, screams and shouts deafening him. The battle was intense, everywhere things shattered and people cursed. He shot off his own shots but could not be sure who he was hitting. Taking over the club would be no small challenge, but he attacked it with an angry rage and a un- touchable determination.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Special Task Force had led the Spell Breaking Squad through the club's chaos, but not without difficulty. They covered the squad as they went about their work, and they were done surprisingly fast.
With the barriers removed, the Special Force Task followed Harry into the upstairs casino, they were ambushed by a small group of drunken Death Eaters, but they easily knocked them out. With confident strides they made their way through the casino. The floor was littered with debris from the chaos that had mounted in the room, and it seemed eerily empty as they made their way towards the back room.
Harry felt a swell of anticipation in the pit of his stomach as he neared the back room. It was the very back room he had saved Hermione at, a place filled with an odd assortment of emotion. He had both feared the room, and loved the feeling it brought him, knowing he was right under the so called "best of the best" in death eater's noses. Now that room would lead them to the capture of Voldemort's inner circle, and hopefully, to the Voldemort himself.
With a deep a breath Harry led them around a bend where the two towering guards stood, still posted by the door. One of the guards drew his wand and aimed a killing curse at Harry, who just barely dodged it. With a forward motion of his hand and a mutter of words, Dumbledore sent one of the guards to the ground. Taking advantage of Dumbledore's preoccupation, the other guard sent a killing curse at the head master. Harry quickly summoned a chair to fly through the air and deflect the shot, and when another curse was fired at him, Altair quickly took charge in killing the guard. They pressed forward to the room. Forcing open the doors they waited for the dust to settle to attack. Then the real dueling commenced.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As Charlie and Bill's squad headed into the club, Chrome fought alone to stop the advancing Muggles.
"Shoot, punch, kick, shoot, punch, kick.. This is getting old." Chrome thought as he fought. A stream of blood was coming from just above his eye, rendering him half blind. He felt himself getting sore and his super human energy was beginning to give out.
"Why am I doing this?" He mumbled out loud as he knocked another attacker of his feet. He didn't know, but he felt he had to keep the Muggles held back for as long as possible. His heart was pounding without mercy against his rib cage, and head throbbed along with it. The fog around him was disappearing and he knew soon he'd be in clear view of all gunmen.
He didn't want to give up however, and stood his ground, knowing it was suicide. "Go down in glory." He thought, though none were watching his heroics, and few would mourn his passing.
As the crack of single gun shot filled his ears, and he fell.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The back room of the casino was like hell let loose. The Death Eaters were fast with their wands, Harry had to give them that. Mad Eye Moody was already down, and Harry didn't know if he was dead or unconscious. Kingsley had a few deep lacerations, and Harry suspected Kingsley would pass out shortly. Dumbledore and Altair were holding their ground, though not without any difficulty, despite how good they were. It came down to the fact that they were out numbered.
Avery, Malfoy, Farrier, Lestrange and the others were powerful wizards, and they took much effort to fight.
A calm cool voice split through the chaos and Harry turned towards, to see that it was Altair reciting a powerful spell. A vacuum seemed to come up behind the Death Eaters, sucking them back. Harry watched with confusion, as Altair stood there, robes blowing wildly about her and foreign words coming from her mouth.
"She cannot maintain the spell for much longer." Harry said, his voice coming smooth and even from behind Harry, tinted with a heart felt sorrow. "We must press forward towards Voldemort." Dumbledore glanced back at Kingsley, who was still standing. They exchanged brief nods Dumbledore and Harry ran out towards a panel in the wall. Harry had seen the top Death Eaters enter the hidden passage numerous times, and he was sure that it would bring them closest to Voldemort.
Harry coughed from the dust that filled his lungs as he put his hand flat against the panel. "Destructo." He said, and with a powerful blast of splintering wood, the panel was gone and a pitch black room lay before them. Harry looked back at Kingsley, who was preparing to port key any on the Death Eaters to prison, as Altair's spell faded away. Harry turned into the darkness, and Dumbledore followed at his heels.
As they came into the room, Harry conjured a bluish ball of light in the palm of his hand, raising it to observe his surrounding. Everything was so silent; he could hear his own irregular breaths filling his ears, seeming incredibly loud. "I don't think he's here." Harry whispered to Dumbledore.
Saying nothing, Dumbledore headed directly to sheet covered object that Harry had failed to see in the corner of the room. He lifted the sheet, and a gold glow immediately filled the room.
Harry stared down at the object which looked like a glass orb on a stand, filled with a bright gold mist.
"Of course, the Death Eaters never talked with Voldemort directly, they communicated with a seeing orb." Harry said, recognizing the object. His voice filled with a sort of weary fatigue, feeling stupid for having thought they could have found Voldemort so easily.
Dumbledore placed a hand on Harry's shoulder. They were no longer the thin and boney shoulders of a young boy. They were the well muscled shoulders of a man who had suffered every burden. Harry's shoulders had carried the world, and Harry needed to lift that burden. However, the dark lord had eluded them once again. Dumbledore found he had no words of consolation for the young man.
They stood in the darkness, only the orb lighting their surroundings. They let silence reign, unsure of what to do next.
Just then Harry heard a creek of the floor boards, a sound Dumbledore was to old to have heard. Dumbledore was wise, but he had not fought for his life on the streets as Harry had, and did not have Harry's reflexes. Before the old man could turn, a sharp cold sting hit him in the back with a sickening thud. Without having time to comprehend that he'd been stabbed by a throwing knife, the weapon caused him to port key away, leaving Harry alone.
"Looks like it's you and me Potter" said a snake like voice.
"I guess so Riddle." Harry said back.