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Possession
Chapter XLV - The Day After
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Daily Prophet
Special War Correspondents Report

Huh..?
From Elliot Bryant

Huh..? That pretty much sums up the feeling in the Wizarding Community today. Last night, Ministry Buildings and civilian targets were all attacked by the Dark forces. Indeed the list of places last night considered lost to the Dark is extensive - Diagon Alley, St Mungo's, Muggle Relations, International Wizard Customs, Ministry of Trade, Ministry of Justice, Quidditch Headquarters - to name just a few. There was fierce fighting throughout the main Ministry buildings, although neither the Department of Mysteries or the newly appointed Minister's Offices were taken. Even this esteemed paper fell under attack from the Dark Forces.

In fact the only place that appears not to have been attacked is Hogwarts and the adjoining town of Hogsmeade although additional communication was being sought as we went to press.

But then, almost as quickly as it had started, the Dark Forces turned and fought amongst themselves. Reports from several sources, including Healers at St Mungo's indicate that a rebellion was started and that Death Eaters were killing each other, with one side being backed by Vampires. The outcome of this internal fight is not yet known but what is known is that the Dark Lord himself was attacked. And this is where things really begin to become unclear.

Early reports have it that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was defeated by his attacker but later reports merely state that the contest settled into a duel, with neither side claiming the victory.

Reports from the Auror squads defending the Atrium indicate that they were hard pressed in the battle against the Dark Forces and were slowly being pushed back step by step. From the strength of the forces it can be inferred that last night was meant to be the final overwhelming push for He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, but it was a push that was interrupted by the Rebellion from within his ranks. As the Auror's, who were outnumbered about 3 to 1, were about to retreat from the public Ministerial areas, to take up more defensible positions in the private offices in the hope of a strong defence being enough of an offence until reinforcements could even the numbers, the Rebellion forces struck.

What follows is the eye-witness account from Auror Captain Sturges, a veteran of the previous war against He-Who-Must-No-Be-Named and the leader of the Auror troops stationed in the Atrium last night.

"I thought it was over," stated Auror Captain Sturges, "when the new lot of those black robes began apparating in. But then they began attacking their brethren, at least, we thought they were their brethren and things went from chaotic to completely out of control and we couldn't even think about defending anything, we were too pushed just defending ourselves. And then of course, those Vampires appeared. We had Him, two lots of Death Eaters we couldn't tell apart, vampires and Auror's all facing off against each other. It was a right fine mess, I tell you. But that was easy compared with what happened next.

"I was as shocked as anyone when the spell landed on him, but he just turns, casual like and greets his attacker. Of course, that's just the beginning and it only takes a moment for that wizard to be screaming. But then Lucius Malfoy steps forward and the Dark Lord greets him by name! I don't know what happened then, they began fighting, and then they stopped and talked, and began fighting again before talking, again. It was weird. It was almost as if they were feeling each other out. Then the vampire elder comes out and He stops and talks to him. I know what was said but I don't know what they were talking about. Transcripts have been given to the Unspeakables so hopefully they will be able to work it out.

"Then he seemed to get really angry. I don't know about what and tell the truth that scared the crap out of me. I mean, You-Know-Who is powerful at the best of times, but then, I swear you could feel the power radiating off him. It wasn't natural. He ignores Lucius, Malfoy's got his hands tied up anyway with a basilisk, and he begins casting at everyone. It was all we could do to hold the shields. And it wasn't like he was using a wand. In fact, the whole night, I don't think anyone saw his wand... Oh great another thing to worry about...

"Anyway, it's right after Malfoy kills the basilisk, constructed but still creepy, he raises a shield around the two of them and they start fighting again but this is the weird part, they only exchange two or three charms before He lets himself get hit. It wasn't just anything, he let that bastard Malfoy get in Avada Kedrava

"He laughed... I swear on everything I know, he wasn't afraid. He laughed. Now, no one - save the Boy-Who-Lived - hit by that curse, lives, and no one has the time to talk. I wasn't even thinking that at the time. I was just so shocked, everyone was - vampires, Death Eaters, Aurors - even Malfoy couldn't believe what was happening. Then, he says something and he died. I don't lie, he died.

"That should be enough cause for celebration but it wasn't over yet. I swear, Lucius is still in shock, but I guess if you're leading the Rebellion you gotta make sure you killed him so he steps forward, I think to cut off You-Know-Who's head. Hell, I wasn't about to stop him, I don't know what would have happened if he'd done it. Lucius is obviously a Death Eater and all, but I couldn't risk any of my men to do that. He's about to cut, he's got his sword raised and everything, when there's a bolt of lightning and someone else appears.

"I don't know who this one was, and frankly I don't want to know. They scared me more than You-Know-Who and I didn't think that was possible. I don't think Lucius knew them either. They're standing over You-Know-Who, protecting him and all around him, there's these broken charms. He looked kind of like a mage warrior, you know, like from the olden times when we used to fight with sword and wand but I couldn't tell for sure, his cloak covered everything. He said something to the vampire, something about blood... Actually, I think the vampire knew who he was, but he never said. This new comer though, he picks up You-Know-Who and another person appears. There's this giant snake behind them as well. Blackest thing I've ever seen.

"By now, I'm just standing there hoping that I'll wake up. Now the little one, the one holding You-Know-Who, says something to Lucius before he orders the Death Eaters to retreat and then he just leaves. I don't know who it was, but they listened and most of the Death Eaters retreated. The snake goes as well. The other one tells Malfoy to go 'cos the Dark Lord'll want to see him or something.

"But he's dead. You-Know-Who didn't move at all, and I saw those eyes. They were dead! The new one, black eyes, black robes, black face mask, just laughs and says it's easy to fix. No body comes back from the dead, no one. It's impossible and I saw that Avada Kedrava hit! The Dark Lord was dead but I guess that hardly matters to the rest of them 'cos the vampire was taking him seriously. I don't know what he did to that vampire. It wasn't like any banishing charm I've seen.

"It did... yuk... The vampire, it wasn't the elder, just exploded and bits of him went everywhere. After that, everyone just began running or apparating. Combat's ordered compared to that. Lucius just stood there though, not that I can blame him - you think you've won and then something like that happens but when we surrounded him, he finally moved. Another half second and we'd have got him. Still, we know his loyalties now and we'll find him. That other one though, the black dressed one, ha! they were all black dressed, he went after the vampires. Got a few of them too before they got away...

"And then it was over. And we've got nothing to show for it, except a few captured Death Eaters, plenty of bodies and damaged buildings. The Death Eaters retreated from everywhere, including those places they'd taken fully.

"I don't know what He's planning, I don't know if he's even planning anything but one thing I do know is that we weren't ready. I don't know how badly the Rebellion hurt You-Know-Who, I don't even know if he's still alive but I do know that we should be thankful that something stopped him. We gotta train, we gotta recruit and we gotta get stronger. There is no choice. No one had any idea the Dark Forces were that numerous or that strong but now that we do...

"I don't know but we are going to have to find some way to fight unless we want to be bowing down to him forever."

And that's why the entire wizarding community is confused. You-Know-Who was in a position to finish it last night but he was apparently felled but if we believe the words of the two who appeared in the middle of combat he's not dead. Who were those two? They are obviously wizards of extreme power. Are they in the employ of You-Know-Who or were they merely taking advantage of the chaos? What are their goals and who do they really serve?

Lucius Malfoy, and all of the identified Death Eaters with him have not been seen since last night, so the outcome of any internal conflict remains unknown. The Death Eaters have dispersed to the winds, once again becoming the respectable citizens they are not. The vampires are in hiding as well, their usual haunts empty.

Only the participants of the battle, those Dark Forces who saw the night out to the end may have any idea how everything concluded and even then they may not be sure and they are not coming forward. It could be days, it could be weeks, it could be months or it could be never before we learn the outcome of the battle between the Dark Lord and the Rebels but for now, it obvious that the forces of Light must regroup and strengthen themselves with prodigious haste for we are not ready for what may come.

Security everywhere must be reviewed and the Aurors must be given the abilities and training necessary to fight for unless we do this, we leave ourselves open to the possibility of losing our way of life forever. The Ministry, weakened from within by the ex-Minister must now rise above that fact and together with the Order of the Phoenix, it must prepare to fight. We must all prepare to fight.

We have been given a second chance. We have to use it.

For more eye witness accounts of the fighting, turn to page 3 - Diagon Alley - a Battle Lost, You-Know-Who Himself Fights, Customs Taken
For the full time-lined account of the nights events turn to page 5 - Anatomy of a Ministerial Disaster.
For a list of known Death Eaters, turn to page 7 and please note the Ministry Procedures to be adopted if you encounter any of these individuals.
For a full discourse on the workings of the Avada Kedrava, turn to page 9 - The Deadliest Unforgivable
For News about the Battle of St Mungo's, including a list of the dead and wounded in battle, turn to page 11 - St Mungo's - The Rebellion Began
For speculation about You-Know-Who including the history of his rebirth and the purported charms his used, turn to pages 12-14, Dark Arts, Dark Revival and Dark Life.
For Lucius Malfoy's suspected Dark Art's connections, turn to page 15 - Malfoy - Pure Line or Pure Dark

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Draco put the paper down with narrowed eyes. Everyone was gathered around him in the common room and had been watching him read. There was nothing in there about that dead Gryffindork Potter but he'd been expecting that. They had struck late last night and in the confusion it was doubtful that news had reached the paper yet... Tomorrow though, that would be a completely different matter.

He was worried though but not overly so. His Father's forces had struck hard and fast, obviously too hard and fast if they could not hold the territory gained, but better to give it up and reclaim it than fight a losing battle. Draco was confident that his Father now held the mantle of Dark Lord even if he hadn't been able to take the Lord's head, the curse had struck true, just like it had with Potter. Now though, he had to explain to these fools who so blindly followed a fallen Lord, who their true master was.

"The plans didn't go quite as expected last night," he began, holding up one thin hand to forestall the questions. "And that is because of an unforseen source of weakness."

"Weakness?"

Draco nodded. "Our Lord is fallen by his own weakness, the blood of the accursed Gryffindor and that insipid rat felled him but new Lord rose to take his place."

"The Dark Lord is fallen?" There was disbelief from all round and Draco narrowed grey eyes, he was going to have to take this slower or else they'd turn against him.

"It was not his fault," he said smoothly. "Our Lord was a great man - wise, cunning, strong - but his rebirth was flawed. Maybe it was flawed of necessity, I don't know. But the weak blood of the rat and that idiot Potter worked against him and he has lost his power. He could not rule the dark and no longer sought the dominance of purebloods. He was lost to us."

There were a few slow nods from around the room and Draco breathed a small sigh of relief. His Father had recruited many of the parents of the children here now, so they apparently had communicated their new beliefs to their spawn. It just made his job easier.

"Dad... dad said as much," one of the younger Slytherin's whispered.

"A new Lord is risen," Draco continued. "A pure Lord, one who will take up the cause of our fallen Lord."

"Who?" They asked, although Draco could see that some already knew.

"Lucius Salazar Malfoy," he said easily, knowing that one glance at the paper would tell them all they needed to know.

One or two looked horrified but others seized the opportunity. "Well, my Lord," they said softly. "What do we do now?"

My Lord... He liked the sound of that. He liked the sound of it a lot. "For now we do nothing. We lost some of our fellows but there is nothing to connect us with last night, even if Black is screaming bloody murder, there are more than enough witness' who will place us here. Now we just watch them crumble and enjoy the show. There won't be another like it."

There were nods from all around before they began filing out to breakfast. Draco smiled. He knew the one's who objected and they would not be a problem for much longer and he knew those who would be loyal. They would be his first followers. For now though, he supposed he should show to breakfast, least there be any suspicion on him. Once his Father ruled supreme, all would know the truth. Besides, he wanted to see how that fool Dumbledore was going to explain Potter's death!

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