CHAPTER 41 – Dismal failure
The lower levels of the Ministry were, much like the upper ones, built in black marble that gave a solemn feeling to the place. Unfortunately, it also made it look like a tomb in Chandra's opinion, and she had raided enough of them in her short life to be considered an expert. At least down there, there weren't any bodies strewn around to complete the macabre image.
She peeked around a corner with an hand mirror, then gestured for Tonks to follow her as she silently moved past. They had split in two groups: Liliana, madam Bones –and wasn't that a funny named duo?– and her companion went to scour the upper levels, while the pyromancer and the female auror went down to the Department of Mysteries to find and help Minerva. They had yet to find any actual sign of fighting, but she didn't doubt for an instant that they weren't alone on that level: if Voldemort wanted the prophecy he had to go and get it himself.
She was the one in the lead of their little expedition because a) she was likely the most experienced of the two in sneaking around, and b) Tonks was still out of it from Liliana's last spell.
If she had to be completely honest, Chandra too was a bit put off. Not by the exploding corpses –that was disgusting, but she was used to it after having travelled with the necromancer for so long– but by the death of the minister. They wouldn't have made it in time even if they had apparated directly into the man's study according to madam Bones, but it still irked her that Voldemort had reached one of his objectives for the attack. The dark wizard simply rubbed her the wrong way, and seeing things going according to his plans didn't help.
The duo creeped on some more until they reached a circular room with far too many identical doors to be functional. There they found the first signs of fighting: lying next to one another were the Weasley patriarch and Minerva amid scorch marks and a number of other spellfire signs. After a cursory glance at the room to spot eventual attackers, Chandra rushed to the professor's side. The scotswoman's breath was shallow and she had a dark stain on her robes on the right side of her trunk, while it was too late for Arthur. The pyromancer treated Minerva's injury the only way she knew, that is to say cauterizing it with a small spark of her power after ordering Tonks to stun the woman.
Unfortunately for them, they weren't given any time to do anything more before a hiss resonated through the room, though to Chandra's ears it sounded like a voice:
"I found prey, Massster," it said with a distinct feminine lilt.
The pyromancer had little doubt about the identity of the snake's master, so she jumped to her feet and prepared to fight.
"And who is it, Nagini dear?" asked Voldemort opening one of the doors "Well, if it isn't Chandra Nalaar herself! Here to foil me again, I presume."
The redhead's answer was an inarticulate scream and a stream of orange flames that engulfed the whole door.
"Ronnikins, what is the meaning of this?" asked one of the twins as their group entered the Room of Hidden Things.
"We could have gotten the Toad with some more time," continued the other shaking his head.
"Very true my less handsome brother, we would have indeed. Were the Snakes too much for you?"
Ron was a prideful young man, and as such it was hard for him to justify his choice to retreat. Even worse was doing so in front of his brothers. But he had also recently realized that his actions had consequences and those could be worse.
"Yes," he admitted with a sigh hanging his head "Had we stayed, they would have wiped us out once we were tired."
The twins, for once, didn't have anything to shot back. No funny quips, no jokes. They shared a long look, then nodded and placed a hand on each of Ron's shoulders.
"We're proud of you, little brother," they said in perfect unison and giving him a smile.
"Now let's get our arses down in the Chamber," said Fred slapping the shoulder his hand had been resting on.
"Before the Toad mobilises her forces," finished George mirroring his twin.
The flames lapped against a translucent blue dome, summoned at the last second by Voldemort.
"Temper, temper," he rebuked the teen with a smirk "Rage makes you powerful but it also blinds you, child."
"This is me being miffed. You've yet to see me raging, Tommy boy," snarled Chandra pumping more mana into her flames before looking down at Tonks and muttering "Take Minerva and run!"
"But-"
"Go!" shouted the redhead dividing her stream in two to keep one on her opponent while the other burned a line in the marble above the door to rain shrapnel on him.
Forced to choose between being burned alive and buried under rubble, Voldemort went for option three: he let his shield expand outwards to staunch the flames before letting it collapse as he dodged in the room he had come from.
Chandra had a split second to decide what to do: on the one hand, she really wanted to toast the dark wizard who had wounded Minerva, who she considered a sort of friend, but on the other hand she knew he was still protected by his remaining phylactery and that it would be hardly useful. The pyromancer hated making those kind of choices.
She cast a flame sigil on the ground just out of the rubble, hoping to at least singe him a little, before turning and following Tonks to the lifts. They had to rendezvous with Liliana and Bones to flee. The ministry had fallen and Voldemort had the prophecy, whether they liked it or not.
Leaving Voldemort behind had been easy: all it took was collapsing a number of hallways –if he was walking so brazenly around it was doubtful there were any more survivors, so Chandra felt little remorse in doing that– as they fled. To be absolutely sure, she demolished the access to the elevator too. She didn't doubt for a moment he would get out of the Department of Mysteries eventually, but she was hoping for that to be as later as possible, ideally after she and the others were long gone.
Finding Liliana and the others was a different matter altogether: they had a general direction the trio had taken and a meeting point in the aurors' barracks, but the first was far too vague and Chandra felt they didn't have the time for the second option. Luckily, Tonks was able to produce one of those spectral animals –a rabbit of some kind– to get in touch with her boss, so that solved the problem.
Unluckily, a silvery rabbit bouncing in mid-air tends to grab the attention, and therefore they found three Death Eaters waiting for them as soon as they disembarked the elevator. Had Chandra been alone and unburdened, she would have simply bathed the hallway in fire and be done with it, but she was neither so she limited herself to throwing fireballs at the assailants from behind her companion's transfigured wall. It wouldn't have been enough if reinforcements hadn't arrived and taken the three down.
"This plane is full of insane maniacs," lamented Liliana in obviously fake despair as they descended towards the ground floor and the exit.
"Says the necromancer living on Innistrad," retorted Chandra while using some conjured bandages to dress Minerva's injury "You should be used to insane maniacs, they're kind of Nephalia's main export."
"At least in Nephalia people have the good grace to die when they get skewered by femurs. I had to pierce that witch trice. Trice Chandra! She could be more stubborn than you! And she teleported away instead of dying. What a displeasing person..."
"If you weren't on our side I'd try to arrest you," commented Dawlish looking pretty green "As it is, I'm too disturbed to try."
"Leaving your skewed perception of reality aside," said Chandra shaking her head "We need to get the last phylactery as soon as possible."
"It's the middle of the night dear, I doubt the goblins will be happy to see you."
"Phylactery? Goblins?" asked madam Bones with a scowl.
"When has that stopped me exactly?" asked Chandra smirking ignoring the lawmage "I say we get in as soon as we find Featherbright."
"Very well, I'll leave disciplining those morons to Hermione," said the necromancer offering a malevolent smile "I'm sure she'll find something... Apt."
"And Jace believes you've turned a new leaf..." muttered Chandra rolling her eyes "For a mind mage he can be remarkably gullible."
"I don't know what you're talking about, and I don't like being ignored, but if it's the goblins you need there's a direct floo connection with Gringotts from the Goblin Liason office," said the head auror in a sour tone.
The two planeswalkers shared a look.
"We're not certain how much we can share, you'll have to ask Dumbledore..." started Chandra in a tentative tone.
"Know it is fundamental for the war effort that we get into that bank, and destroy a yet unknown artefact," summed up Liliana, not really caring if too much was actually said "Now, where is this office?"
AN: and with this we close the Ministry/Hogwarts battles and head towards the last horcrux hunt. I debated a long time on saving Arthur's life vs having him die and as much as I like the man, having no meaningful losses in such a situation would be too improbable. See you all next week!