Chapter Eleven: An Ending of Days
Kevin said goodbye to his guard friend before apparating to the wizard prison where he was a guard. He and his other friends, who also happened to be guards, had just finished drinking at the Three Broomsticks. One of their other friends, Bradley, had been called to do guard duty the first shift of Halloween, so he hadn't heard that everyone else had switched times for their next drinking time. They'd drawn lots, and Kevin had gotten the shortest one.
When he hit the ground, he had to take a moment to get his bearings. Apparating drunk was never a very good idea. He took a deep breath of the cool night air. He felt himself start to sober up, so he began the long walk between the apparition boarders and the prison.
About half way there, Kevin tripped on something he knew shouldn't have been there. He cursed, and dug through his pocket to find his wand, lumosing it once he did.
He found himself staring into the dead eyes of another one of the guards. Kevin scrambled up, increasing the intensity of the light on his wand. He had to control his legs' urge to run at the sight of the slaughter. Instead, he took a breath. He couldn't panic. He was a seasoned, retired Auror and had seen worse than this. He committed the faces of the dead to memory, trying to match them up with names. When he had, he continued to the prison. He had to see if this was just an isolated incident.
But the minute he entered the prison, he knew something was very wrong. The place was dead silent. Even during midnight shift, there were always sounds. Guards talking or playing cards, or prisoners moaning in their sleep.
Up ahead, he saw a guard lying on his back. Kevin rushed over to him. It was Bradley. Kevin struggled to hold back his sobs. One of his best friends was dead. Kevin and Bradley had gone to school together, went through Auror training together, fought together, laughed together, and drank together. Bradley had even been his best man at his wedding. Those days were over.
Kevin continued to search the prison, seeing only dead guards, except on the third floor where he saw two dead Death Eaters. He committed their names to memory.
When he was done with the search he went back outside. He desperately needed to feel the fresh air.
Now what could he do? He had to warn someone. But who? The ministry's offices were closed, considering it was two in the morning. The Daily Prophet would probably be closed as well. He stopped pacing, but he couldn't remember when he'd started. He could go to Hogwarts and warn Dumbledore.
Kevin took off running toward the apparition boarders and apparated to Hogwarts.
When he reached Hogwarts, he once again took off running. When he reached the doors, he heaved them open. He couldn't bring himself to run through Hogwarts. Even as a student who was late to class he couldn't. It had always seemed disrespectful.
He tried to remember how to get to Dumbledore's office, but he'd only been there a couple of times. He started off in the general direction, hoping that just maybe he'd run into a teacher.
As he walked through the halls, he found himself lost in memories. Because it was so dark, most of those memories revolved around sneaking out. He tried not to get tears in his eyes when some of those memories involved Bradley.
Suddenly, the corridor was filled with light. He squinted, trying to see who was making it, but the light was too bright.
"You're not a student," a voice from behind the light said. The light dimmed in intensity, allowing Kevin to see who was behind the light. He was tall, had very unruly black hair, circular glasses, and the brightest green eyes Kevin had ever seen. The person in front of him looked like the pictures he'd seen of Harry Potter, but if it was, Kevin didn't want to go there. He had much more important things to worry about.
"Are you a teacher?" Kevin asked.
The man shifted his weight, and crossed his arms. "Yes. Who are you?"
"I'm Kevin, and I'm a guard at the wizarding prison, you have to take me to Dumbledore, all of the prisoners have escaped," Kevin said in one big breath.
"The prisoners, as in the Death Eater prisoners?" the man asked.
"Yes! I need to tell Dumbledore!" Kevin said.
"Follow me," the man said, and took off at a slow jog. Kevin followed him, despite his reservations not to jog in Hogwarts.
They soon reached the gargoyle, and the man said "Starburst." The gargoyle immediately began to move, allowing them to come in. When they reached the door, the man didn't even bother to knock.
Kevin was surprised to see that his former headmaster was still up. Dumbledore looked up.
"Ah, Kevin, what can I do for you?" Dumbledore asked.
"I work at the prison, now, sir, and I went there to night to tell one of my friends Bradley something, but he was dead, and the prison was empty! They've escaped! I don't know how they did it, but they've all escaped!" Kevin shouted.
Dumbledore turned to the man. "Harry, I need you to floo to the Burrow and wake up Arthur, and both of you need to floo back here," Dumbledore said.
The man nodded, and went to the fireplace, and was soon gone. Dumbledore stood up and snapped his fingers twice. A house-elf suddenly appeared.
"Hello, headmaster Dumbledore, sir. What can Dobby be doing for you sir?" the house elf asked.
"I need you to wake up Professors Snape, McGonagall and Flitwick and have them come up here immediately," Dumbledore instructed.
The house elf's head bobbed up and down, and said, "It would be my pleasure sir," before snapping his fingers and disappearing.
Kevin sat there in a daze. He couldn't allow himself to think of the possibilities.
A cup of tea on a saucer was placed on his trembling hands. He looked up into the kind eyes of the headmaster, hoping to see the comforting twinkle in them. He found himself sorely disappointed. Dumbledore returned to sit behind his desk. "I'm sorry about Bradley. He was a good person," Dumbledore said.
Kevin raised his head. "Thank you Dumbledore."
The fireplace turned green, and Arthur Weasley, Minister of Magic, stepped out of the fireplace, followed by the man Kevin thought to be Harry Potter. Had he not just lost one of his best and oldest friends, Kevin would have been awed by the most powerful person within the Ministry of Magic. The fact that he was still in his pajamas, and covered in soot made Kevin feel slightly better about not being able to be awed by him.
"Albus, what is going on here? Harry was ranting about some guard and the wizarding prison," the Minister said.
Dumbledore motioned to a chair in front of his desk. "Please, take a seat Arthur." The Minister reluctantly did. "The guard Harry mentioned is Mr. Kevin Andellmere. I want to wait until everyone else gets here before Kevin has to tell his story again."
Kevin almost sighed in relief. He took a sip of tea and started to feel better, calmer. His thoughts began to slow down, and he was able to practice in his mind what he might say to the Minister and the other professors.
The door opened, and Professors McGonagall, Flitwick, and Snape came in. Dumbledore conjured three more chairs in front of his desk, and the professors sat in them. Dumbledore turned to Kevin and said, "Kevin, would you please tell everyone what happened."
Kevin once again relayed the story, although this time he gave names.
"Severus, do you have any idea who might be leading them?" Dumbledore asked.
The black haired professor thought for a couple of seconds. "My best bet would be the Lestranges. They were always two of the most powerful Death Eaters, very highly favored. Everyone was afraid of them. Even Lucius."
"Arthur, what do you plan on doing?" Dumbledore asked.
The minister took a breath. "As soon as I leave here I'm going to contact the editor of the Prophet. I think people have the right to know, and put up proper defenses. Perhaps he could print a special edition in the middle of the day, but that would be up to him. Are you planning on reassembling the Order?" Arthur asked the headmaster.
He nodded. "Tomorrow after dinner. I'll send out the owls tonight." He turned to the professors. "I'd be guessing you are all going to stay up late discussing this?" he asked, his eyebrows raised. Kevin was expecting the twinkle to come back, especially with that look. But his former headmaster's eyes held no mirth in them. The professors nodded. "Harry, why don't you wake up whoever is supposed to do rounds after you a little bit early." Harry nodded. "Unless anyone has anything else to say, you are all free to go."
"Thank you for telling us Albus," Professor McGonagall said.
"Of course Minerva," Dumbledore said.
A/N: Thanks everyone for your amazing support of my story: Warm and fuzzies: So, I've got the summary written, and I'll be working on the end soon. Please, continue to review, you guys brighten my day!