July, 2017
Chapter 14: Adrenaline
"Older men declare war. But it is youth that must fight and die."
― Herbert Hoover
After the door closed on Marcus Ridgeway and Julius Lithgow, the tension in the room diminished. People talked quietly amongst themselves, almost ignoring the tensed Aurors that shot frequent glances towards the office. While Hazel tried to distract herself from her own nerves, Mason nudged her gently, nodding somewhere behind her. The witch easily recognized the dark-haired Auror that had joined a conversation with two other wizards. The Savior, Harry Potter. She hadn't seen him since Paris.
A small laugh escaped when Tim waved awkwardly at a few, staring Ministry employees. Whatever semblance of relaxation was ruined, however, when the Aurors seemed to close in around them. Beside her, Kestis raised himself to his full height, towering over the group. At the rush of frustration - they weren't doing anything wrong, why were they glaring at them like that? - Hazel met the eyes of a blonde Auror. Standing in between the two groups, the witch raised her chin in the air as she fully turned her back to the Aurors. Like hell she was going to let her friends get hurt, not again. Tim's eyes widened at the action, and Mason smirked in approval at the brunette.
The bold move provided a sudden rush of adrenaline, and Hazel was grinning as more people followed suit; soon enough, a large portion of the supporters had their backs turned to the Aurors. Watch us all you want, we don't care. Miranda smiled proudly at the witch, and Hazel had to duck out of the hair ruffle Henry tried to plant on her, giggling. She smiled as both Henry and Edward not-so-subtly moved to stand in front of the pregnant witch. She was lucky. As they waited, someone passed around small portkeys. Smile dropping at the reminder, Hazel studied the small lion in her hands. Just in case.
Hazel turned to ask Magne about his thoughts on Ridgeway, did he - a sudden noise erupted, shaking the ground beneath them. Rubble began to fall from the high ceiling as a massive explosion rocked the room. With a quick Protego above their heads, people shifted around her as voices broke out. To her right, Henry called to the Aurors, "This isn't us!" Before she could check on her friends, black figures slipped through the hole in the ceiling. Bloody hell.
The first Soulless - Merlin, these were the Kissed Death Eaters, weren't they? - made her eyes widen in shock. Barty Crouch Jr..Hadn't he been the one to kill Carly's family? Someone shoved her, and the witch stumbled into Kes. He grabbed her arms as the crowd moved around them, panicked. Above the din, she could barely hear the wizard yell, "Cowards! How nice of you to gather in one place for us. It makes this much easier." A scream cut through the air as more and more wizards apparated into the Ministry - there had to be at least 30 by now - and Barty Crouch Jr. sent a jet of green at the closest Auror.
Someone called her name as light began to stream across the room; both Kes and Tim shot spells at the men, others quickly joining in on the sudden battle. Above the chaos, Hazel could see Henry force something into Miranda's hand before she disappeared with a silent pop. The Aurors turned their attention to the sudden arrivals, and Auror Potter moved towards the Soulless with a grim look on his face. She wasn't sure how much time had passed as she sent another Stupefy towards the men, more and more people in the group using the provided portkeys. Ducking under a flash of red, Hazel lifted her wand once more. Like hell they'd hurt her friends.
The crowd of hundreds thinned out rapidly, and Hazel thought she'd counted only twenty people left before she had to dodge another curse. Merlin, what was happening? To her relief, she noticed Magne and Isolde leave, alongside a few of the younger students. Barty's laughter rose above the cacophony of sound as he deftly shot curses in every direction. Her heart nearly stopped as she saw Mohinder fall to the floor, limp. Dead. No, not again.
Hazel wasn't sure if she was yelling herself as dark ash flew from the tip of her wand. In the intense rush of emotions, the ash butterflies exploded in a wave, blinding some of the Soulless. Edward quickly noticed the familiar movement, and together they used Markus's spell to attack and block incoming spells. This is for all we've lost. A flash of white in the chaos caught her eye, and she turned in time to see Mason curling into himself - Merlin, had he been hit? - shrinking and shifting as he transformed into a white wolf. She didn't know he was an animagus. Why hadn't he told - The witch stumbled as Edward shoved her, a jet of vivid red where she'd just been.
Nodding at the Ravenclaw, Hazel focused on the remaining wizards, ignoring the rush of concern as Kestis shifted as well; as a massive polar bear, it was easy for him to grab the nearest dark witch in his jaws. Recognizing Tim's freezing charm, Hazel sent a strong blast of water at another wizard. Take that! At one point, she could've sworn Mitsy popped into the fight, projecting large pieces of rubble; however, she had been forced to protego before she could call out to the house elf. A roar sounded nearby as the two transfigured wizards ran forwards, the agile white wolf leaping off of Kes's back to tear at a man's throat viciously. Her own back hit Tim's, and together they threw a variety of jinxes at the surrounding attackers.
There were still so many of them. She had to make sure - for the second time, an explosion rocked the area around them. Hazel felt Tim dragging her backwards, falling to the ground as the Minister of Magic's office exploded outwards. She felt something wet trickle down her forehead as she tried to stand, the sounds of the battle muted by a loud ringing in her ears. She saw Tim's mouth open, yelling something as hands pulled her to her feet, unsteady. Behind the boy, Hazel barely could see the blurry bear twist a small figure in his jaws, or the jets of light that flew around their heads. Blinking slowly, she barely recognized that it was only Tim's hands holding her swaying body in place.
Someone grabbed her arm, and her head turned to see another Auror collapse to the ground. She nodded gratefully to the Irish wizard as he waved his wand over her. Almost instantly, her vision and hearing cleared, focusing on the scene before her. Maybe Cormac wasn't that bad. A streak of red and white blurred past her, and Hazel saw a bloody wolf - was that his blood or theirs? - move towards the polar bear not twenty feet from her.
With Lithgow nowhere in sight, Hazel tried to call to Marcus Ridgeway as he stepped - seemingly, thankfully, somehow unharmed - from the destruction. In a turn of events, the dark-eyed professor nodded to Potter before the pair began to attack Barty Crouch Jr., whose smile only grew at the sight. The three seemed to be in their own world as they dueled, a combination of unfamiliar and recognizable spells flying between them.
As Tim ducked another spell beside her, she noticed someone flick their wand towards Kestis, whose back was turned. Vivid red seemed to fly slowly across the room, and Hazel ran towards the bear, a scream torn from her throat. No, no, he didn't see it, too late, she couldn't be - and a white wolf pushed himself off the ground as he leapt in front of the incoming spell. No, Mason! Not him. Bloody hell, no please - she hit the marble floor hard, ignoring the rush of pain as she scrambled over the rubble she'd tripped on. "Cormac!" She screamed, hoping the healer could hear her. Her vision blurred, this time with tears, as the wolf convulsed violently under the tortue curse. Kes shot a quick Stupefy at the attacking wizard before he learned over the wolf, who slowly, painstakingly shifted into a bloody and limp boy. Mason, no, please. Before she could even reach the boys, Mason's body - was he still alive? He had to be, she couldn't lose him, too - was pulled across the floor towards the healer. It was a mix of relief and so much more that she saw Cormac send the - hopefully unconscious, please be alive - Mason back to the Lodge.
By this point, there were less than fifteen of the original group left, including Edward, Tim, and Kes. One of the Aurors called to Potter as Hazel ducked past another jet of green; cries sounded around her as not one, but four Aurors suddenly dropped. Before she could wonder if they were dead or just unconscious, someone called her name. Following Edward's pointed finger, the brunette scarcely dodged the sudden onslaught of purple fire that rushed towards her. Her breath caught, temporarily, as the purple flames seemed to incinerate the marble beneath it. Bloody hell, what kind of curse was that?
Another student went down, and someone screamed as Cormac fell to the ground in a tangle of limbs under the cruciatus. Ginger hair moved to her right as the remaining Aurors battled the Soulless, and Hazel nearly dropped to her knees as Kes was abruptly hit by the same curse as Mason. No, no, no, she was helpless to watch, no, she couldn't just watch - The bombarda that left her wand missed the blonde witch, but exploded the area around her nevertheless; Hazel fell to the ground beside Kestis as he transformed back into his human self, shaking violently but still awake, still alive. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Tim's small animagus form land near them with a sickening thud.
Without time to be surprised by the man's gesture, Auror Weasley threw surrounding rubble into the air, blocking the ominous red spells aimed at the trio. After waving a basic healing charm over Kes - it was the best she could do without putting them at risk - Hazel cast confringo at the wizard who'd hit not one, but two of her friends with the tortue curse. And had nearly burnt her alive. Her relief when Tim pulled Kes away from the battle was short-lived as she was forced to fall against the hard marble floor; the purple flames crackled in the air above her, the air smelling like burnt hair and blood and dust. That'd been too close.
Hands pulled at her arms, yanking the girl roughly to her feet. One second, Edward was smiling down at her as he gently squeezed her arms, pulling away to rejoin the fight. The next, he jerked violently in place, eyes sliding shut as he dropped like a stone. Edward! No, Merlin, no, please - Hazel sobbed. In a stroke of luck, or something else entirely, she narrowly missed another curse as she collapsed against the wizard's body. No, no, it was too much, she couldn't lose anyone else.
White light flashed in the air around the remaining wizards as Ridgeway began to throw more violent spells at the Crouch Jr., who was hit by the lightning before he could even try to dodge. Wiping the obstructing tears from her eyes, sobs still wracking her body, Hazel tried to call out to her mentor as he threw spell after spell at the dark wizard; Barty had begun to lose any advantage he'd possessed, blood dripping out of grinning lips as Auror Potter turned to Ridgeway, the tip of his wand already lit. With one last glance at Edward - or what remained of him, his body limp and much too still - Hazel tried to call to Ridgeway, tried to warn him. As Potter and Ridgeway began to duel, they barely noticed the bloody, grinning wizard pop out of the Ministry.
"Did you forget about me already?" A voice yelled, and once more, Hazel was forced to cast an abrupt protection spell as the wizard - he killed her friend, he murdered Edward, tortured Mason and Kes, bodies writing then much too still - shot a silent crucio at the grieving witch. She could hear Kes call out for her somewhere behind her, but took no notice as she screamed. The windows around the dark-robed wizard were blasted as glass shattered above him, and Hazel advanced towards the Soulless. He killed her friend, he hurt Kes, he hurt Mason, no more. Waving her wand, Hazel tried to aim the glass shards at the man's face as he lifted his own wand at her. No more, no more, no more no - The third time, the purple flames formed an 'x' in the air as it hit her squarely in the chest. The fire immediately burned through cloth and skin, and the last thing she heard were voices calling her name.