July, 2017
Chapter 13: The Wheel
"When mortality is the equation, we are but pawns in a game."
― Dianna Hardy, Reign Of The Wolf
It was a slow process, fitting what was easily over a hundred people, if not more, through a telephone box meant for one. After Ridgeway stepped inside, he'd stated his name in a loud, clear voice. When a disembodied voice requested the purpose of his visit, he had smiled at the crowd and replied, "Peaceful rebellion." There'd been a few cheers somewhere behind her, and even she returned the smile as his brown eyes met hers.
This seemed to set the mood for the remaining wizards, as the Corre had chosen on decidedly silly names to put on their badges. Hazel grinned as Miranda printed a label for the phoenix that read "Markus's Replacement". Markus would've approved. After a moment of indecision, Hazel chose "Aspiring Dragon", covering her mouth at Mason's "Pureblood for Stick Removal." While Isolde was making up her mind, Magne had decided to go with "Viking Raider", high-fiving Kes at his label, which read "Weatherman".
Inside, Hazel realized this was the first time she'd actually been in the Ministry. It wasn't like she'd ever needed to before. The large room they were in had high, arching ceilings, and seemed to be primarily decorated by black marble and gold fixtures. A massive series of statues towered over the mass as they arrived at their destination. Standing in front of the balcony that, she assumed, led to the Minister of Magic's office, the witch tried to appear not as bloody nervous as she really felt. Despite the size of the crowd, or maybe because of it, Aurors now stood in a loose circle around the group.
It'd been less than five minutes when the familiar russet-haired Auror moved to stand in front of Ridgeway, wand twirling in his hand, "You're under arrest, Marcus." Hazel was reminded of the 'duel' between them as Auror Weasley glowered at the responding smile of the man's lips. "We are here to register peacefully." He waved to his own badge, "Tell me, Mr. Weasley...has your wife registered yet?" Sweet Merlin. Hazel's eyes widened, resisting the completely inappropriate urge to laugh. Without a verbal response, the Auror had reddened, moving in a fashion that could only be described as 'storming off'. She had to look away from Mason's identical expression to keep from grinning.
In the heart of Ministry, the lingering silence was distinctly uncomfortable. Aurors shifted in their spots, some of their hands hanging by their holster. Ministry employees would often pause to study the crowd of witches and wizards; some only looked confused until they recognized the man leading them, others talking in low conversation and subtle glances. Some even stopped in their tracks to watch the unfolding events. Beside her, Kes shifted to take her hand, bringing Hazel back from her thoughts to her immediate surroundings as someone moved on the balcony.
The Minister of Magic was very...clean-shaven, wearing dark wizarding robes that matched the slicked back hair and look of anger across his features. Minister Julius Lithgow was a Pureblood wizard who'd only been in office for a short period of time; a temporary replacement after Minister Granger had been removed for inactivity against the increased attacks on Muggleborns and the massacre at Hogwarts. That Jack had caused…He watched the group then disappeared from the balcony, reappearing downstairs to speak to the Aurors in low voices.
"Auror Bell, please relieve Mr. Ridgeway of his wand...and arrest the Corre." The Minister nodded at the five standing in the front, and Hazel's heart leapt in her chest. Almost immediately, over fifty people raised their wands from behind her, and her hand began to hurt from Kes's tight grip. Something inside her ached when she raised her wand and Kes and Tim...didn't. Was she disappointed? The brunette tried to stay still as Ridgeway stepped towards the man, creating space between himself and his supporters. Glancing behind him with that calm smile, his voice cut through the quiet chatter, "Mr. Lithgow, explain this to us. Isn't this what you wanted? For muggleborns to….register." He finished the last word with a near sneer, a strange contrast to the calm smile on his lips. The man in question scowled, "You are responsible for this, Ridgeway, all this pain and suffering."
"Actually, Mr. Lithgow," Ridgeway turned his attention back to the Minister, "this is of your own creation, the flawed design of the wizarding world, clinging onto rules that no longer support us." The smile seemed to only agitate the wizard as he clenched his wand tighter. Ridgeway, please be careful. "Yes," the Minister ground out, "you are. You engineered this situation, you built the chaos up to this. This is your fault." A low chuckle cut across him as Ridgeway slowly shook his head, "No, Lithgow, it is people like you whose fault it is."
"I've had to do what needed to be done." The Minister replied, to which Ridgeway simply said, "So did I." The Aurors shifted uneasily as Hazel glanced around the room. Was it her, or were they getting closer? "You," Lithgow seemed to struggle speaking before he took a step forward, "you would cause chaos in a world that has stood for hundreds of years. You would change the very way of life of the wizarding world." Ridgeway continued to smile, "Mr. Lithgow, these things happen. Evolution is natural. The question is, what is the point of this registration of yours?" Before the Minister could even respond, the dark-haired man turned his head back to the silent and tensed crowd behind him, "You want cruelty to beget cruelty. Mr. Lithgow, you may believe you're superior, but your actions will only create more cruel people that'll be cruel to people who, one day, may end up being cruel to you."
"The only way we can live in peace is if we're all prepared to forgive." Murmurs of agreement spread across the masses as he spoke, "I know what you were, I know what you did. So, why not break the cycle, here and now?" The more Ridgeway talked, the angrier the Minister appeared to get; he scowled, his words clipped in frustration, "Why should I?" Kes glanced down at her, something unintelligible in his expression as she tried to smile comfortingly despite the situation. Everything was going to be okay, no one's wands were drawn. "My goal, Ridgeway, is safety, and if means it...war." At this, the conversation in the group seemed to grow in volume before Ridgeway held a hand slowly up in the air. The Aurors tensed, but the crowd easily fell silent.
Ridgeway chuckled, clearly unamused, as he lowered his hand, "Your goals, of course. Let's theorize, together. When this war of yours is over, when you have a homeland free from the Muggleborns and those you despise...what do you think it's going to look like. You don't actually know, do you? What will you do if you 'win', if you supposedly protect the Ministry from the next generation of dreamers." Mr. Lithgow's grip on his wand loosened as the dark-eyed man smiled once more, "Have you even thought about it, given it any semblance of consideration? Because, Mr. Lithgow, you are very close to getting what you want."
"Paint me a picture, Minister. Are you going to live in houses, go to school, work? Will there be holidays? Music? Will people even be allowed to play violins….Who's going to make them? You don't know, do you? Because," He raised his head, and she felt shivers run down her spine as his voice dropped, "like every other child throwing a tantrum, Lithgow, you don't really know what is that you want. So, let me ask you this. When this war is over, when you've killed all the "bad guys", when it's perfect and just and as fair as you want it to be….What are you going to do with people like you? The dreamers, the troublemakers. How are you going to protect your glorious revolution from whoever comes next?" The two men stood less than five feet apart now, and it was with a strange combination of pride and dread that Hazel watched the wizard tower over Minister. "We'll win." Ridgeway's smile seemed to grow at the short response, tilting his head to the side.
"Oh, will you? Maybe, but nobody wins forever, or even long. The wheel keeps turning, Lithgow. So, let's do it. Break the cycle. Together." The man must've hit his breaking point, and the Minister's angered yell echoed across the space, attracting even further attention from nearby employees, "Why are you still talking?" The dark-haired man hardly seemed phased as he continued to look down at the flustered wizard, "Because, Lithgow, I want you to see. I'm almost there, don't worry."
"It's not some grand game, Julius." Ridgeway closed the space between them, and the surrounding Aurors immediately aimed their wands at him. Lithgow held his hand up in the air, eyes locked onto the wizard that continued to speak before him, "This is a scale model of war, two sides facing each other." Hazel felt Kes's grip on her hand tighten, "Every war ever fought is right here in front of you. It's always the same. When you fire that first spell, no matter how right you may feel-" A flash of green hit Markus in the chest. "You have no idea who is going to die, who's children will scream and burn-" A history foretold, his only answer will be screams…"or how many hearts will be broken. How many lives shattered, blood spilled, until everyone does what they were always going to do from the very beginning. Sit down and talk, Minister." One last step forward, "Listen to me, Lithgow, and listen well. I just want you to think...do you know what thinking is? It's just a fancy word for changing your mind."
"I will not change." Lithgow scoffed, though his glare seemed to have lost some of its animosity. "Then you will die stupid. Or, you could step away, and we can just...talk." The Minister took a step back, and two Aurors moved to stand on either side of him, "No, I'm not stopping this. Do you think they'll let me live after what I've done?" Whispers broke out at this, but Hazel found she couldn't take her eyes off of Ridgeway. How was this going to end? Was violence..was war, truly inevitable?
"You're all the same," Ridgeway waved towards the surrounding Aurors, whose wands were still pointed at him, "all children, seeing yourself as unforgivable. Well, here's the unexpected. I forgive you, Mr. Lithgow. After everything...I forgive you." Lithgow could barely finish his sentence, "You don't understand-" as Ridgeway interrupted him one last time. "I don't understand?..I don't….understand?" The laugh that escaped his lips made Hazel's heart race, something inside twisting uncomfortably as Ridgeway began to speak faster, a strange edge of his voice, "Of course, I understand, look at this. We call it a war, but we both have fought in a bigger war than some of the people here will ever know. I have suffered more than you can ever understand. I've seen worse things than you can ever imagine, and when I close my eyes, I hear more screams than anyone would ever, could ever count." Ridgeway…."Do you know what you do with that pain? You hold it tight until it burns your hands and you say no one else will feel this way, no one else will ever have to feel this pain. Not on my watch."
The entire room was dead silent for a moment, then Lithgow raised his hand, fingers slowly curling into his palm. Reluctantly, the Aurors lowered their wands. What had just happened…? Hazel hadn't realized she wasn't breathing until Ridgeway held out his own hand, palm up in an eerily familiar gesture. Come home. "Let's break the cycle, together."
Both men looked oddly defeated as they seemed to come to an agreement, a sudden shift from the rising tension in the room. "Thank you." Ridgeway nodded at the man before he turned back towards his captive audience. The Minister turned to the Aurors in low voices - if appearances were anything to go by, they did not agree with this abrupt change in plans - and Miranda moved towards Ridgeway. Hazel, for once, didn't feel guilty about pulling her hand away from her boyfriend's to join the Corre by his side. As Miranda - a proud and cunning Slytherin, through and through - practically begged him not to go, the young witch only placed a hand on the man's arm. At the touch, his dark eyes met hers for a brief moment, and she tried her best to smile, "Be careful."
Placing one hand over hers, Ridgeway looked down at Hazel with a fond smile, "I always am, my dear." Before she could say anything else, Marcus Ridgeway moved to meet the Minister by the open door of the office. Around her, wands were lowered and Hazel watched with a heavy heart as the door closed behind the pair of men with a click. It'd be the last time both men were seen together alive, but how could she have known that?