Chapter Two

Last Stand

Auror Audacious Belle cackled at Aurelius, the grandmotherly figure pausing to refill their cups where they sat at the kitchen table in the remote cottage she shared with Alastor Moody. It was also the only tidy room in the house besides the small spare room that Aurelius was in; Audi had given up trying to pick up after Alastor years ago. Cobweb covered books on defeating any sort of creature imaginable were stacked precariously all over the room Audi dryly referred to as the 'living room' (because it was the only room with a couch) while in the 'dining room' (the one with a dining table) gadgets of all kinds made to detect evil creatures, dark magic, spies, and more were piled up on the table and chairs as if they were meant to serve no other purpose. In the two rooms Aurelius had barely frequented, Alastor's office and their bedroom, the walls were covered with mirrors and low bookshelves piled with more gadgets than books. The only other room left besides the bathroom (which had no mirror at all) was the basement, which was mainly used as a gym, although it also contained a modest wine rack and a dusty old chair with a box next to it full of polish and things which Aurelius soon learned Alastor used on his wooden leg. Still, it really wasn't a bad place to stay for a summer, although Audi's old fashioned cooking really didn't suit his tastes.

"What happened then? Did he manage to get her to come back out?" Audi asked, prompting him on what he had been telling her about Corey's party.

"Yeah, but she didn't really talk much after that. In fact, she ignored Grandfather completely," Aurelius said.

"Yes, dear, but what was she thinking?" Audi coaxed. Aurelius sighed softly. Audi knew how much he hated it when she asked him about someone in his family, especially his mother. Audi frowned at him, drumming her fingers. "Your walls are going up again. You know you're never going to get good at this if you keep doing that."

"I don't know, she's hard to read," Aurelius said irritably.

"Only because you want her to be," Audi said gently. "I know from experience that your mother hardly ever blocks her thoughts. Come on now, you must have picked up something."

"I don't know, she was angry, that was evident to everyone," Aurelius said. "It was like she felt threatened by it in some way."

"Oh, I have little doubt of that," Audi said, gazing at him thoughtfully. "Well, I think I'll just let you try and work that out. Use the Pensieve tonight to see if you notice anything new," she suggested, getting up. "Let me get supper started, and then we'll go through the drills."

Aurelius quickly cleared the table for her, the sink automatically filling with soapy water as he stuck them in. As he was finishing, he heard a clunking sound on the front porch.

"Sounds like the master is home early this evening," Audi said cheerfully, and Aurelius stepped out of the kitchen to see Alastor Moody entering the house. "What's wrong? No evil-doers today?" she called out from the kitchen with a cackle.

"Criminals so petty even Thurspire can keep up with 'em," Alastor grunted, eyeing Aurelius thoughtfully before nodding a greeting.

"Still no signs of her? Other than the restlessness I mean?" Aurelius said.

"Oh, you heard about that, did you," Alastor grunted, tossing his cloak in a random direction.

"Hard to miss it, Alastor," Audi clucked. "The House Elves have gotten all jittery, let alone every owl in the country. Even old Fluke's gotten paranoid."

"Reminds me of birds running before a storm, only it seems to be everything. I've heard reports even the dragons are acting weird, and the centaurs up north say the entire Dark Forest is on edge, and even stranger the stars seem confused," Alastor said as Aurelius followed him back into the kitchen.

"The stars are confused? What in the world that's supposed to mean?" Audi frowned.

"Beats me. Do I look like a centaur?" Alastor grunted.

"Well, you're halfway there," Audi said mischievously. "Just don't ask me which half."

"Excuse me a moment, Rel, while I teach this old hag some manners," Alastor said, a flash in his wild eye. Audi brought up her wooden spoon defensively.

"No problem, I'm used to it," Aurelius said dryly went to bring some wood in. Rolling his eyes at the sound of the squealing old woman and the flashes of wands that soon followed, Aurelius shook his head. "Now I know why they decided to move out in the country," he muttered to himself as he grabbed a handful of logs for the kitchen woodstove. But his voice sounded strange in his ears, although he wasn't quite sure why.

He stepped out from behind the shed and found himself staring into the trees. The wind was strangely cold for this time of year, sounding hollow as it blustered by. The late afternoon sky was clear and the sun still visible, and yet there was strange feeling in the air he couldn't explain. Not a bird could be heard anywhere in the area, and he could barely make out the sound of the brook. Aurelius went back inside, the insult apparently settled, for Audi had turned back to her cooking while Alastor eyed the Daily Prophet and the Oracle with a healthy look of skepticism.

"Rather odd weather out there," Aurelius said. Audi glanced at his face curiously, stepping aside so he could get to the oven. "Moody, were the problems in the forest affecting the Unicorns as well?"

"Oh yeh, come to think of it," he mused, looking up from his paper. "Sagittari mentioned something about them stayin' close to the Grove instead of taking the foals in the Glen this summer."

"Probably the safest place for them," Audi agreed, knowing full well the extent of Aurelius' bond with Pali…perhaps even better than his parents did.

"I don't know about that. She's gotten in once," Aurelius murmured.

"Well, I agree this sort of thing looks suspiciously like her work," Alastor said carefully, gazing steadily at Aurelius despite the fact Rel's back was to him. "But it's too early to rule anything out as causing it yet. Far as we know for sure, she could be harrassin' folks halfway across the globe right now."

"No, this is her," Aurelius said, the older couple glancing at each other as he took a seat again at the table. "Ever since that night when I helped Father trap her in that paradox, I've felt a strange connection to her…well, not as strong as he does, I don't think, and right this moment it's almost like…like she's thinking of me for some reason."

Audi frowned, looking deep past his gaze.

"The boy's right, there does seem to be something there. Rel, go ahead and put your walls back up, dear. We'll do the drills tomorrow," Audacious said. Moody folded up his papers, leaving them on the table.

"I think I'm going to go to the workroom and take a look around, just to be safe," he said.

"Can I come this time?" Aurelius asked.

"Fine, just don't touch anything," Alastor said as he got up.

Audi frowned as she watched the two of them leave, stirring the small pot of leftover brew she was warming up. She paused then as her eye caught something moving outside the kitchen window and she focused in on the Foresight Forecasting Wizard Barometer, blinking at it puzzledly when she saw it was spinning.

In the next room, Aurelius stayed near the door, watching the shadows in the Foe Glass thoughtfully as Alastor stood in the center of the room, gazing into each one. Aurelius couldn't help wondering why his father never seemed interested in the things, considering how many enemies he had had over the years. How many shadows would appear in a Foe Glass attuned to his family, he wondered. Two less, at least, he thought grimly, not wanting to think too long about what had happened a few months ago as he watched Alastor closing his normal eye to better study them. How many shadows would he personally acquire when he became an Auror?

"Everyone seems to be behaving themselves at the moment," Alastor grunted, gazing long and hard at one of them in particular before turning back to Aurelius. "Well, son, it's like I said before. We're all on edge about this, it's probably just nerves or…hm…" he said suddenly alert again. "Well, that's never happened before."

Aurelius peered at the Foe Glasses himself, not expecting to see anything but the vague shadows he had always seen. But he frowned as he gazed into the closest one to him. All of the sudden, he didn't see a single shadow at all.

"It's as if someone's blocking it…" Aurelius murmured.

"No it can't be blocked…" Alastor began, but then stopped short. "But it is, isn't it? Impossible or not, and that means we are most likely about to get in some serious action. Audi!" Alastor barked as he hurried through the door. "Pick up your skirts and get your valuables, we're going to have company! Rel, get your cloak and get home."

"Home?"

"Don't argue with an Auror, boy, one way or another it's not good for your health," Alastor snapped. "Now get your things!"

"Alastor, look!" As Aurelius went to his room to grab his wand and cloak, Alastor ran to the dining room to see what Audi wanted. Every device upon the table was trembling as if caught in an earthquake, rattling against the wooden table, shaking so violently it was if they were fighting something…something keeping them from going off.

Suddenly every one of them went off at once, flashing, blaring and announcing the evil presence upon them in one giant blast powerful enough to shake the entire house. Painfully, Aurelius held his ears, aware that Alastor was shouting at him. But Aurelius had already tried to Disapparate to no avail, and somehow got the point across to Alastor over the noise. Then there was a crack of thunder so loud it muffled the sound of the devices themselves. In fact, a moment later, they all stopped as if they had burnt themselves out.

Motioning Aurelius to stay back, Alastor went to peer out the window. But as Audi took another position in line to cover him, Aurelius slipped into the kitchen, wand in hand.

Just outside the door stood the tall pale figure of a woman with cold, inhuman eyes and long golden hair, her lips pursed in thought as she pondered where she was and stared at the cottage a moment. Suddenly she laughed, a sharp, high-pitched, rather insane laugh, her head then coming up proudly as she caught the movement of a curtain at the window.

"I remember this now! Why, you're the two frail mortals who try to keep the boy from me!" Ciardoth said amusedly.

"Frail, my Eye," Moody retorted. "Back off, Ciardoth! Whatever you're wantin' you ain't gettin'!"

"I wouldn't be so sure of that, if I were you. Unlike you, I am not weakened with age, for I do not age. You and the woman have long outlived your usefulness in this world, and I would happy to see you leave it. In fact, I remember helping you do just that, of course the question is when? Hand over the youth and the medallion he wears, or neither of you will see another day," Ciardoth said calmly.

"We're Aurors, Ciardoth," Moody said evenly. "We don't believe in surrender, conditional or otherwise. You want him, you'll have to go through us, first."

"Hm, tempting, but perhaps now that won't be necessary," Ciardoth said.

Aurelius was so intent on the conversation in the front room that he hadn't seen the wisp of white smoke slipping under the kitchen window. Suddenly the smoke curled around his neck like a rope and Aurelius felt himself being jerked back onto the floor as it tried to strangle him. But the Aegis around his neck wouldn't let it, keeping it from cutting off its air but it couldn't stop him from being dragged across the floor towards the kitchen door. Crying out in alarm, Audi ran over to find some way to dispel it while Alastor burst open the door and pointed his wand at Ciardoth.

"Obliviate!" he shouted, but as he cast she instantly wasn't there.

"Fortunately, I knew you were going to try that," Ciardoth said coolly from behind him, standing in the doorway now. "I remember all too well."

"In that case, I'd rather go out fighting!" Alastor said with a flash in his eye. She smiled enigmatically at him.

"So be it! You will see how futile it was to defy me! And then when you are gone, I shall take the boy anyway!" Ciardoth laughed, raising her hands. There was a flash of light and she disappeared, but Alastor knew she was far from gone.

Inside, Audi finally found a way to negate the smoke only to have to jump up and drag Aurelius down again as he moved to get up, wand in hand again.

"Woah, woah, not so fast there, Rel, it's you she's after!" Audi hissed.

"Exactly. I'm not going to have the two of you put in danger on my account…"

"Accounts be damned, son, I promised your parents you'd be safe. If she's after you, chances are we wouldn't be in danger if you left…"

"Wrong. She has no value for life. She'd kill you anyhow…" Aurelius argued.

"Damn it, Rel, I am your godmother and you will do as you're told!" Audi snapped. "In our bedroom in the drawer, you'll find a Ministry key in it. Use it and tell them what's going on here, and we'll stall in the meantime until help arrives."

"What's that noise?" Aurelius asked, pausing to listen as the ground beneath them began to shake.

"Never mind! Just take the key and go!" Audi shouted, giving him a shove towards the bedroom as she ran up front.

As Aurelius began to search maddeningly in the two end table drawers, Audi ran up to join Alastor as the roaring and trembling got worse and worse.

"Cover me, I'm opening the door!" Alastor barked, feeling the pressure of the wind against the door. When he turned it, it snapped open, and the two of them took a step out and stared in horror. Spinning in the trees before them and pulling them out by the roots as if they were weeds was the largest tornado either of them had seen. Strange blue lighting flashed within it and even sometimes around the outer bands as it came closer towards them, tearing up everything in its path.

In a panic, Alastor closed the door again and used his wand to board and reinforce the windows.

"No! Leave one of 'em open or the house will blow up!" Audi said.

"I don't think much is gonna stop that in any case," Alastor admitted. "Know any spells?"

"Wind dissipation, but I don't think it's powerful enough to take on an F-5," Audi said.

Alastor wasn't quite sure what an F-5 was, but before he could say anything, his quick ears heard shouting and tuned into the boy standing in the hallway.

"The key doesn't work!" Aurelius yelled, wand in hand as he began to step over.

"No! Get down in the basement, now!" Audi barked.

"Not likely! What's that noise? Why are you just standing here?" Aurelius demanded. Growling in annoyance, Alastor turned his wand on him full force. A spell Aurelius didn't recognize forced his feet to move, having trouble keeping himself balanced as they ran in the opposite direction and he found himself tumbling down the basement stairs, the door slamming and locking behind him. As he tried to pick himself up, he suddenly remembered his ring. Slipping back the latch, he pressed it.

"Alastor! It's just hovering there on the edge, it's not moving!" Audi shouted.

"She's waiting for us to come out so she can finish us off, obviously! Think the boy will make it?"

"Long as he keeps his wits about him and that bauble around his neck," Audi shouted back.

"Audi, I don't think I've ever told you…"

"Craters, stuff it, you blighted old codger, this isn't any time for sentiment! We're about to meet our maker and you damn well know it!" she said angrily.

"Well, one more for the road, then, old girl?" Alastor yelled more congenially. "Cast up that sync spell and let's give it a go."

"I've always thought dying of old age was overrated," Audi said back, putting out her hand. "Give me your hand, luv, we'll go out with a bang."

"Alright luv, together then," Alastor said back, putting his hand in hers so she could cast the spell that caused their next one to maintain the strength of both their casting powers combined. With one last silent glance at each other, the two raised their wands, opened the door, and charged out of it together.

It was only an instant later that the cottage exploded.