Ch 14: Threat

Ministry Of Magic, Present Day (Day 4)

"An Anti-apparition Charm?" the one called Waller squeaked from beside Ron.

He was easily younger than Ron and had eyes that had been bright and kind when Ron had first seen him. But now, they were wide with fear. Hermione and Kingsley were still looking keenly at the Obliviators ahead.

The memories Kingsley had brought had led them straight to the lawn of Number Four, Privet Drive. As surprised as they had been to be there; it was quickly exceeded by their curiosity about the bizarre events that followed. Starting with one unit, the entire street was now filled with what Blake; the person whose memories they were now in, had claimed to be the entire department of Obliviators at the Ministry's disposal! All of them claimed to have received direct orders from the Minister but the look on Kingsley's face told Ron otherwise. The Obliviators had tried to Disapparate only to find that an Anti-apparition Charm had been cast in the area.

In the last four days; Gringotts had blown up, Harry had been declared a criminal, one of the Deathly Hallows had resurfaced, Voldemort could be on the rise again, a five-tonne dragon had threatened the exposure of the Magical World by deciding to take a nap on a beach full of Muggles and Ron had actually found someone he loathed more than Malfoy. But even by those standards, this had to be the most bizarre thing he had seen this week.

"Just what is going on?" he muttered under his breath.

He was answered by a voice that sent a chill down his spine.

"Indeed" it said.

While Ron had only found it mildly unpleasant, Waller winced. A few others grasped their foreheads. It seemed like the voice was in their head. Occlumency. But it couldn't be…

For some reason, a feeling of dread arose in his gut. In front of him, Hermione's eyes had gone wide. Even Kingsley looked stunned. For a brief moment, the entire street was silent save for heavy breathing from the Obliviators.

Then, a figure materialized about fifty meters ahead of them. Tall and thin, shrouded in a hooded cloak as black as night and with long, pale fingers loosely curled around an ivory wand. The hood fell over his face so that a dark hole appeared to be sitting atop his body. His cloak fell to the ground giving the impression that he was levitating. Excluding a silver scythe, it looked as if Death itself had come for them.

He approached them leisurely. The air above him seemed to shift with every step. It gradually attained the shape of two enormous wooden crucifixes and on them—

Hermione gasped and took a step back. On the crucifixes; impaled on the wood by large shards of a dark metal, were Vernon and Petunia Dursley.

§§§

Ron couldn't believe what he had just seen right now. Right in front of them; the man had pierced the Dursleys' skulls with the same dark metal that had been holding them to the crucifixes without the slightest hint of remorse. Instead, he had called it 'fun', as if human lives were some toy he could play with and discard at will.

Pure horror was on the faces of everyone around. Even without Occlumency; nobody could've moved from their spot after witnessing what they had.

Currently, the man turned to the Obliviators.

"See?"

"Fun, right?"

"As a reward for sharing in my joy, I'll let you in on a little secret."

"You're all next!"

With another casual flick of his wand; hundreds of razor-sharp metal projectiles materialized around him in mid-air. Ron didn't need to see his face to understand that the man was leering. Waller now had tears in his eyes. His body was trembling; desperately trying to somehow break free of the man's control.

"Oh?" the man's gaze locked onto him.

"You seem especially scared. Young too."

He walked closer as he spoke; Waller winced with every step he took as if the presence was physically hurting him. By the time the man was in front on him, Waller was down on his knees; blood dripping from his nose.

"What's wrong? Does it hurt?" the delight in the man's voice was nauseating.

He pointed his wand at Waller and tilted it upward so that Waller was now looking up at him. A stream of blood was gushing down from his nose. His tears were flowing faster than before.

"So it does hurt." The man spoke with mock concern.

"Do you perhaps want me—to make it go away?" he crouched down; bringing his hooded face within inches of Waller's.

Along with him, one of the metal pieces closed in; pausing with its tip half an inch from Waller's right eye.

"Do you?"

Ron felt like he was about to be sick.

The man slowly tilted his wand downwards, making Waller's head go down and the metal piece shifted along with it. He stopped when Waller was facing the ground and then stood up. He looked at the other Obliviators, forcing them all to look at Waller through Occlumency. Many of them had tears streaming down their faces too.

"Did you see that? He nodded."

Ron felt his sickening delight flair up again.

"I'll take that as a yes."

With that he flicked his wand; launching the metal straight through Waller's eyes, lifting his control long enough to make the street echo with the Obliviator's screams.

When the screams were over and the young Obliviator lay slumped in a pool of his own blood; the man was already standing in front of Blake.

"You should suffice." He said as if apprehending a piece of furniture.

'Then he swished his wand; launching all the remaining metal projectiles into the bodies of the Obliviators. No sooner had the corpses hit the ground that he pressed his wand to Blake's chest and whispered;

"Crucio!"

The response was immediate. Blake was writhing in unbearable agony on the ground while the disturbing laughter of the man filled the air. He repeated the spell a few more times until Blake was all but dead and then stopped. Then, he lifted his head to look straight to where Kingsley was standing.

"Kingsley Shacklebolt. I've heard a lot about you and your so-called Order of the Phoenix. If the tales of your heroics are true, you shall make intriguing opponents indeed. I would love to personally kill every single wizard in this country."

Judging by what he had just seen, Ron believed every word the man said.

"But for now, I will settle for the Boy Who Lived."

"I promise you that they won't be calling him that when I'm done with him. And you will be helpless to stop me. But, when that's over, I am coming for you and all your lackeys. Pray that you die before then because this—"

He pressed his wand to Blake's forehead.

"—is just the beginning."

The world faded in a blinding green flash.