Chapter Fourteen

Unforgivable

1

Level two was little more than a ceiling being held up by a few walls. Smoke and dust hung in the air, making it very hard to distinguish friend from enemy. Agape was the only one left who could clearly see in the murky room. The fighting had calmed considerably and the duels had resorted to both parties shooting across the room at each other from behind piles of rubble.

Through the haze, Ginny could just make out two currently clear doorways that could lead her out of the Ministry – if only they weren't behind the Optimates.

"Why hasn't the rest of the Ministry responded yet?" Agape asked Tonks.

The short-haired woman was patching up a deep cut in her palm with her wand. "I'm not exactly sure," she responded, her brow furrowed in concentration. "Since the lift is blocked and Kingsley says we still can't get through the exits, we can't tell what going on in the other levels. They better be doing something – our improvised jail cell can't hold any more of these wankers." She jerked her thumb toward the locked office behind them where Makesh Vemulakonda sat sentry before the door.

"How many, Mak?" Tonks inquired of the man.

"Thirty seven," Mak answered gruffly. "If we get much more, we'll have to sit them on top of each other."

"Wouldn't bother me," muttered Tonks, turning her attention back to the presently free Optimates across the room.

"How long has it been?" Remy asked Agape.

"Four hours," she replied, "but it feels like a lot longer."

"I hope Harry and Kyla are okay," Ginny said as she leaned her exhausted back against the remains of a cubical wall and rested her hands on her large belly. "I'm so worried…"

Agape put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "You know Harry would never let anything happen to his baby girl," she said. "Besides, Kyla is a force to be reckoned with all on her own."

Ginny smiled a little at the fitting complement.

"Incoming!" someone suddenly shouted.

The three women and Remy ducked behind the rubble as a barrage of curses zoomed to their right, blasting debris into the air. They all retaliated – even the bookstore clerk – but most of their spells hit little more than the makeshift wall the Neos where hiding behind.

"Kingsley!" Tonks shouted into the row of Aurors to her left. "Are you still there?"

"I'm here," Kinsley's deep voice called back from a distance. "They couldn't hit the broad side of a dragon if it was ten feet in front of them."

"Apparently neither can we," Tonks laughed.

"I will never ever, ever willing set foot in the Ministry again," Remy vowed to anyone who was listening, his voice squeaking slightly. "I just want to see Antonia again."

"I'm sure she's fine," Agape told him. "I have complete confidence in the Order and the Blood Traitors."

"Were you a Hufflepuff?" he inquired.

"Gryffindor," she corrected.

Remy glanced behind him to make sure he was below the fire line. "I was a Slytherin – we focused more on self-preservation than bravery or loyalty."

"I bet you'd be brave for Antonia," Agape grinned, though he probably couldn't see her very well through all the dust.

"Yeah. I'd jump in front of the killing curse for her," he confessed.

Overhearing this, Ginny made an awing sound and Agape could see a wistful smile appear on Remy's face.

"Incoming!" the same person shouted.

They all ducked lower as the floor shook beneath them.

2

"Gus… Hey, Gus, wake up."

Augustus slowly opened his eyes and found everything around him blurry. Despite there being a large crack in his left lens, things cleared up when he pushed his glasses back into place.

Logan's tired, cut up face came into view as he crouched over his prostrate comrade. Behind him stood Yvette with her stylish outfit rendered to slash up rags. The Lupin twins watched the nearest door – blood mingled in Quin's hair and Lenore was sitting with one shoed foot and the other wrapped in a red stained bandage.

Gus gingerly sat up and waited for his head to stop spinning. "I g-got stunned… Is-is it over?" he stammered. As his thoughts started clearing, he spoke more rapidly: "Where are the students? Are we too late?"

"No, it's not over," Logan answered grimly. "But we think most of the students have made it to the forest now. Yvette saw Ferris and Sydney taking the last lot not long ago. We're just trying to regroup."

The bespectacled man peered closer at his surroundings and saw Imogene not far behind him, propped up against one of the compartment seats with her eyes closed.

"Is Ima alright?" he asked, concerned by how ashen her face looked.

"She bit a poisonous lizard salope," Yvette told him bitterly. "Now she can't even stand on her own. Stupid old woman. I told her I could handle it myself."

The tone in her voice told Gus that Yvette was angrier with herself than Imogene.

"We have to go to where the students are," he said, keeping the objective in mind.

Logan nodded without saying anything.

"The only problem is we don't know where they are exactly," Quin said, turning away from the door. When he faced the others, Gus could see his face was smeared with blood as well. "And we've got a few Optimates on our trail right now."

"They want to keep us separated," Lenore explained. "We're easier to pick off that way."

"Well, they've certainly accomplished that!" Yvette snapped, suddenly digging her nails into the woodwork of a compartment door and ripping a huge chunk out of it. "They've gathered at the front of the train to keep us from fully regrouping."

"Don't worry," Gus said. "We'll find a way."

A rumbled ran through their car and even Imogene looked up expectantly. Lenore leaned closer to the window in the door and grabbed her brother's arm.

"Quin!"

"I see them," he said. "Everyone get down!"

They all dove for the floor and Yvette threw herself over Imogene as a deafening blast resounded throughout the car, shattering all the glass. Quin was the first to get up and fire back though one of the broken windows, then Lenore and Logan moved to other compartments to do the same.

Gus scrambled to his feet and found his own open empty window.

3

It was situations like this – being thrown into a raging river – that proved to Marduk his phoenix improvements were well worth the agonizing pain that came with the transformation. His powers didn't exactly give him the ability to fly, but he could levitate by will alone for short distances – or rather, he could rise with the heat.

It was harder when he was wet, but as he rose from the rapids, the moisture evaporated from his skin and clothes and he was able to stay just above the water surface. Slowly, he hovered to the bank and let his feet drop to the grass, tired from having used so much energy.

He walked up to the tree line and paused at the sounds of voices. He knew what bank he was on, so he quickened his pace to reach his allies.

The young man was quite surprised to find a crowd of kids milling around the globular prison instead of Optimates. Most of them were looking at their classmates stuck inside the bubble with a mixture of horror and curiosity. However a few were crowded around a girl lying prostrate on the grass. A few adults were there as well – a blond man tended to the injured girl, while the Auror he recognized from the train comforted a sobbing girl around the same age, and the last one, a woman with short black hair, kept the children around the blob from touching it.

The Auror noticed him first and immediately took out his wand.

"You!" he barked, putting the weeping girl behind him. "You come to join your friends?" He gestured to a number of Neos chained together not far away, all of them unconscious.

"I hope not," Marduk answered.

"Then you'd better get out of here pretty quickly," said the Auror.

"Harry, we can't wait much longer," cried the blond man as he knelt beside the girl. "I don't want to leave you all here, but I have to get Tricia to St. Mungo's soon."

The crying girl sat down beside him. "Is she going to die?" she choked.

The sentence caught Marduk's attention. "What happened to that girl?" he asked Harry, who was still holding up his wand threateningly.

"Pay attention, Neo," the Auror snapped. "I'm sick of dealing with you tossers –"

"I am paying attention," Marduk interrupted. "I can help her."

A loud, angry scoff came from a pretty young woman standing among the crowd. "And why would you do that?" she demanded, coming forward.

"Sydney," warned Harry, but she ignored him.

"Why would you help her, you murderer?" she asked heatedly.

"Listen, I didn't come here to kill people," Marduk told her.

"Oh, that's rich!" she hissed vehemently. "Did you hear that, Ferris? Mr. Pure here wants to condescend to help us Mudbloods and blood traitors. He doesn't mind terrorizing little kids, but he wouldn't want one to die."

"Sydney," Harry snarled, loosing his patience. "Move away from him."

But Sydney did just the opposite. She stormed straight up to Marduk and leaned up on her toes to better look him in the eye.

"You're disgusting!"

"I can help her," Marduk insisted.

"Why would you? She's Muggle born," Sydney retorted.

"You all seem to be under the impression that we're here to massacre impure children," he said, grimacing. "I don't want to kill anyone – especially a kid."

"Then you're sending some pretty mixed messages, you creep," Sydney responded. "What were you planning on doing with all of those students in that huge blob? Take them out for an Optimates tea party?"

"No, we want to make them better than what they are," Marduk informed her.

For a moment she looked both furious and appalled. Then she pulled back her hand and slapped him hard across the face, making his head snap to the side. Marduk glared back at her, ignoring the stinging on his cheek, but he couldn't hide how his now faintly glowing skin.

"They don't need to be better!" Sydney screamed at him. "Who are you to say they're not as good as you?"

He leaned toward her then and out of the corner of his eye he saw Harry move a step closer. "Look, I don't care what you think about my beliefs," Marduk told her. "Muggle born or no, I see a girl over there who could die and a stupid, self-righteous prat keeping me from helping her."

"How can you help her?" asked the blond man suddenly.

Sydney spun around and gave her friend an incredulous look. "Ferris… he's a Death Eater!"

Marduk leaned around her and talked to the blond called Ferris. "I have phoenix powers," he explained quickly. "My tears can heal her."

"You can heal curses too?"

"I'm pretty sure."

Ferris and Harry exchanged looks. The young man's eyes were pleading, desperate for help, and the Auror seemed to give in.

"Alright, all of you move away from her," Harry told the students. "Get behind me somewhere."

They did as he said and peered inquisitively around him to get a better look as Marduk walked past Sydney to kneel beside the unconscious girl. He looked up at Ferris and their brief moment of eye contact was enough to tell him the blond would kill him if he harmed the child.

Taking a steadying breath, the Neo leaned over Tricia until his eyes were level with hers. He could see a red mark between her brows where she had been cursed. Blinking a few times, he turned his head slightly to the side and let a couple of tears fall from his eyes onto her forehead.

Everyone watched tensely, but nothing happened at first. He straightened slightly and waited. He was afraid perhaps Dante had over exaggerated his healing abilities and he wouldn't be able to do any good whatsoever.

However, his fears were put to rest a moment later when the girl finally moved her head a little and took a deep breath. Ferris leaned closer to her, a relieved smile breaking his strained features.

"Tricia?"

The girl's eyes opened at last and she looked around in a daze. "F-Ferris?" she muttered groggily.

"Hey," Ferris answered, tears running down his face. "Look at you, little cousin – you're okay. You're okay…"

Marduk stood to give them space and turned to find himself face to face with Sydney once again. She was much less hostile now, but she also looked very confused by his actions. He wondered if it was that hard to imagine he actually valued human life. However, he couldn't bring himself to ask her out loud. The fiery little woman had stirred a question in him that he couldn't quite figure out and he was afraid to open his mouth again.

4

Alton sat on the edge of one of the train cars. He took slow controlled breaths, but they weren't helping ease the severe pain in his arm. His fight with Marduk had landed him with a broken bone somewhere below his right elbow. The Blood Traitor recognized the feeling from a similar injury he'd gotten long ago during his martial arts training. He wasn't going to be doing much fighting for a while.

A loud clatter behind him made him start. He twisted around to find a silver pocket watch gleaming on the roof surface. Looking up, Alton saw Roman standing not far away.

"What the heck do you want?" asked the redhead, getting up to face his old friend. "Come to finish me off?"

"I tricked you," Roman told him flatly.

"No kidding. I know that already."

"No, you don't," the Italian insisted. "I tricked everyone. They just don't know it yet."

Alton raised an eyebrow at him. "Did you get hit on the head?"

"I'm sorry, Alt," Roman continued. "I didn't want to betray any of you. I didn't want to do this to the kids either, but it was the only way."

"The only way to what?" Alton asked, daring to hope there was still some good left in his friend.

"You'll see." Then the tall man gestured to the ignored pocket watch. "You'll want that. It's a portkey – but be sure to give it back to Jett when you're done. It's kind of special to her."

"For what –"

"Ah! Julius," exclaimed a jovial gravel-filled voice. "Who's this you've got?"

Alton spun around to see a grey-haired man with a horribly scarred face standing on the next car. He'd only seen the man up close once – when he had been mutated to breathe fire.

"Odin," he growled furiously.

The older man looked closer at him and his eyebrows suddenly shot up in recognition. "Mr. Drake! I can't believe you're still alive."

Alton didn't answer. He could only look back at Roman questioningly, but found he wasn't there. Whipping his head back to Odin, he saw that he'd joined the Optimates leader.

"I was just thinking of doing away with him, actually," Roman said, eyeing Alton blankly.

Someone ran up to them and whispered something into Odin's ear before backing away a few paces and waiting.

"Hmm," said the old man. "Apparently, no one can find Marduk. Do you think he'd have the guts to go A.W.O.L.?"

Alton couldn't help himself. "I kicked your boy's shiny golden butt into the river," he told them. "He's probably way down stream by now."

Odin frowned at him as if his sunny day had been briefly interrupted by a cloud.

Roman pulled out his wand and took aim at Alton. "All the more reason to get rid of this Mudblood," he declared.

Alton glared at him and wiped away any hope of regaining his friend from this Death Eater hell.

"Very, good," Odin barked approvingly. "Oh, before I go, Julius, I wanted to tell you how pleased I am with the entire mission. Everything is going exactly to plan."

Roman bowed his head slightly. "Thank you, Sir."

"Proceed, please," the old man allowed. "I think I'll watch before I leave." He folded his arms to wait intently for Alton's death.

Alton's eyes widened when he realized he truly was about to die. He glanced around the area for any help, but found none. He was alone and he knew he couldn't bloke the spell that was coming even if his wand arm wasn't broken.

Roman focused on him for another second, ready to fire… Then his eyes flashed to the side. He turned his wand on Odin.

"Avada Kedavra!"

The underground lord crumpled and fell dead beside his second in command.

Alton gawked at the body, frozen in utter shock.

The underling, who was still waiting a few steps away, sputtered something incoherent as he gaped in horror at his fallen commander. "You killed…killed Odin!" he cried at last, pointing an accusing finger at Roman. As if frightened he was going to be next, the man immediately Disapparated.

Alton quickly looked down and snatched up the pocket watch before going to Roman. His friend's normally tanned complexion was now quite pale – he almost looked faint.

"Roman, we have to get you out of here," Alton exclaimed, pulling on Roman's arms. "That bloke's going to come back with more Neos any minute."

Roman shook his head. "No," he breathed. "That's it for me, Alt. I'm done. Form this moment on I'm dead."

"Don't be an idiot! We'll get the kids and we'll get out of here."

Roman shook his head again, his face becoming more resolute. "No, Alton. That's what you're going to do. With Odin gone, the battle is over. Put the portkey in the prison and it'll take everyone touching it to Hogwarts."

"Hogwarts?" asked Alton, confused.

Roman smiled slightly. "I made it that way just in case everything else failed – wouldn't want Dante getting his hands on them after all I put them through."

"You tricked everyone…" Alton muttered, repeating what Roman had told him before. "Look, I'm not leaving you here to be murdered."

"Sorry, but it's the only way."

"It is not!" Alton insisted, a lump rising to his throat. "We'll hide you or something."

The sound of many feet running over the roof came from behind them.

Roman seized Alton's shoulders and shook him slightly. "If they don't have me," he said, "they'll come after everyone until they find me. I have to stay, and you have to leave – now!"

Alton looked at the approaching Optimates, then back at Roman. Finally giving in, he nodded once and grabbed his friend in a brief hug with his good arm. Neither of them could say anything that would make a difference now, so he simply let go and Disapparated.

Roman stared blankly at the spot where Alton had been. The Neos reached him and he did nothing as someone circled their arm around his neck from behind. Several wands pressed against his skin and everywhere there was shouting. Malleus fell to his knees at the sight of his dead father, before turning his rage on Roman, cursing him repeatedly and demanding to be told why.

Roman lost consciousness.

5

"How much longer do you think we can hold them off, Quin?" Lenore shouted to he heard over their fight with the Neos outside the train. She was in the compartment next to his, ducking below the shattered window for protection against oncoming hexes.

"I don't know," she heard him yell back.

"Keep shooting!" bellowed Yvette from the hall. "I can hold them off the door all day!"

Lenore winced as she saw blood spatter across the floor in front of her compartment. Yvette was defending the entrances a little too ferociously.

"They're leaving!" Gus called from the other side of the car. "No one's left on our side."

Lenore peered cautiously out of the window in time to see the Optimates outside Disapparate as well.

"What's going on?" Quin asked in disbelief. "Why did they stop?"

Logan suddenly came into Lenore's compartment to use her window to peer around the sides of the train. "They're leaving everywhere," he said. "You think they're going after a new target?"

"I'm not waiting around to find out," Yvette informed them, scooping up Imogene from the floor and kicking open a door before jumping off the car.

"Wait!" Quin said to her retreating back. "There might be retaliation!"

"I don't care!" Yvette snarled over her shoulder. "Stay there and cower if you want. I'm gone."

Lenore and Logan looked at each other inside her compartment. After a second they shrugged and got up to gather Gus and Quin. Together, the four of them swiftly followed after the vampires.

6

"FIRE!" Kingsley hollered.

Every Auror, and Ginny and Remy, shot all manner of hexes, jinxes, and curses over the debris trench at the Optimates. The commotion of magic pinging off rubble and the walls didn't die down until at least five minutes later when Kingsley told them to stop.

Then an odd silence filled the room as the newly disturbed dust swirled around the air.

The eerie quiet settled over them as they waited to be attacked again, but nothing ever came. There wasn't as much as a cough from the other side. Agape sat up a little and squinted hard, searching for signs of movement from the Neos.

"You think they're all unconscious?" Remy asked hopefully.

"That's impossible," Ginny told him. "There's no way all of them could be down with one attack. Merlin's beard, Agape, get down!"

The tall woman had stood up and pushed her long hair out of her face to study the enemy lines closer. "They're gone," she breathed. "There isn't a single person left over there."

"Gone?" Tonks demanded, standing up as well. "I can't see! Why are they all gone?"

Others started rising to their feet and carefully stalking across the floor to the other side.

"She's right – no one's here," one called back.

"Is it some kind of trap?"

Agape took another scan of the large space, wanting to be absolutely sure she wasn't mistaken, when she spotted two people not far from the hallway to the broken lift. The murky air cleared ever so slightly and the two women came into better focus; one tall and brunet with a long scar on her face, the other shorter and blond with pale blue eyes.

For a moment they could see her too. Jules put a finger to her lips in a shushing manner, so Agape kept quiet and didn't approach them. When another cloud of dust floated by, they were gone and Agape knew the Optimates were not coming back.

7

Harry was still trying to decide what to do with the phoenix mutate when Ron, Hermione and the rest of the Order showed up on the east bank with another large group of children being herded forward by Neville.

"Oh! The students!" McGongall said, stricken at the sight of the imprisoned children. "How do we get them out? Are they hurt?" Her hand was a nasty purplish color as she reached out to touch the magic glob. Payton gently took her wrist to prevent her getting stuck in the goo, and patted her hand reassuringly.

Fred and George carried a barely lucid Charlie between them, and gawked at the amount of captured kids upon seeing the prison.

Behind them, Remus didn't seem to be able to breathe properly and his wife, Tundra, was supporting him under one arm. With blood trailing a lengthy stain from her lips to her robes, the thin woman didn't look too good either. She looked around the clusters of people, obviously in search of her son and daughter.

Hermione went to Ferris, Tricia, and Kyla, who were still sitting on the ground. Holes in her shirt revealed some pretty bad cuts on her side, but she made Ferris let her help the gash on his chest with her wand. Ron left her to it and came over to Harry.

"Who's this bloke?" he asked, looking at Marduk.

"A mutate," Harry answered. "He saved one of the kids… Now I don't know what to do with him."

"Arrest him maybe?" the redhead offered.

"Ron!" snapped Hermione. "Ferris said he just save his cousin's life!"

Ron gave his wife an outraged look. "One good deed isn't enough to cover for a million bad ones," he argued.

Marduk observed them without saying a word. He was less concerned with the wand in his face than he was with the fact that none of the other Optimates had returned yet. He could tell something was going on that he was unaware of.

"He's only… what nineteen? Less?" Harry said. "How many bad things could he have done in his lifetime?"

"Well, Draco Malfoy certainly did more than his fair share of bad things before he was nineteen," Ron reminded him. "Just put him with the lot you've got chained up over there. The Ministry can deal with him."

Harry considered this and thought it was probably the best thing to do. He raised his wand to stun the young man, but hesitated again. He could see a wand sticking out of his pocket, but Marduk never once reached for it. He wasn't even using his fire powers against them. Why wasn't he protecting himself? Why didn't try to escape like most halfway capable Optimates would?

He was distracted once again by new arrivals. A scarcely clothed Yvette came through the trees carrying Imogene in her arms and followed by blood covered Lupin twins, Logan, and Gus.

The orangey haired girl, Antonia went up to Lenore to assist Quin in helping her walk on her injured foot.

That was everyone except Alton. Harry's brow furrowed as he looked back at Marduk. The golden haired man was the last one Alton had fought with as far as he knew – but now he was standing here and the Blood Traitor was not. The Auror wondered if his eyes had tricked him when he saw Alton standing on the train roof.

Gus hurried up to him and leaned close to Harry's ear before whispering, "The Neos have gone. Some must have made them stop."

Harry glared at Marduk. "Where are your friends?" he demanded. "I didn't think they'd be that easy to get rid of."

Marduk suddenly looked much more anxious and he looked northward as if hoping he could see the bridge from where they stood.

"All of the students are here!" McGonagall called out joyfully. "I've done a head count and everyone is accounted for."

A wave of relieved mutters ran through the crowd.

There was a pop and Alton suddenly appeared out of nowhere. He was paler than parchment and his face was taut. Gus immediately went to him and touched his shoulder.

"Are you alright, mate?"

Alt didn't answer. He looked at Harry instead and spoke in a tense, hoarse voice.

"Roman killed Odin," he said. "We can leave now."

"What?" cried several people as the students asked who Odin was.

Harry's jaw dropped open and Marduk sucked in a sharp breath. A burst of flames was the only sign of the Neo's departure, but Harry found himself not caring anymore. He lowered his wand and moved toward Alton.

The small man held up a silver pocket watch for him to see. "He gave me the portkey to take the students back to Hogwarts, but we have to go soon… or the Optimates might come back."

McGonagall was the first to react actively. "I-I'll make more portkeys so we can all leave at once," she said softly. "Children, can you help me find some rocks and sticks?"

"You don't have to," Alton told her soberly. "All you have to do is touch the bubble. It'll take us all there."

He walked over to the gelatinous prison and put one hand inside. Eventually, everyone else followed suit. It was a good thing the blob had grown so big; at least fifty or sixty hands had to hold onto it. The adults made sure every child was safely secured and Harry held tight to Kyla beside him.

Taking one last look toward the direction of the bridge, Alton took the pocket watch in his left hand and plunged it into the clear goo. In a whirl they were gone.

8

The entire student population of Hogwarts and the two vigilante groups arrived back at the school grounds in a heap. The blob prison shook violently for a moment before finally bursting open and freeing them all. The kids inside awoke from their vacancy with a start and peered around questioningly as they wiped slime off of themselves. They were liberated at last.

Harry held Kyla in a hug as she quietly wept. "I'm sorry," he muttered into her black hair. "I'm so sorry you had to go through this. You were so brave."

Grateful tears welled up in his eyes as he kissed the top of his daughter's head. "I'm just so glad you're okay…"

Nearby, Alton had broken down at last. He sat on the grass and Payton held him as he sobbed. They ignored the commotion behind them as Yvette roughly shoved Logan away from her.

"I told you Roman would never betray us!" she screamed at the werewolf. "He saved us all! And we just left him there to die!" As she started to crumple, Logan caught her in his arms and said quiet words that seemed to calm her some.

Sydney and Ferris had formed a small circle on the grass with Tricia, Trevor, and Monty. They simply sat in silence, Ferris keeping one hand on his cousin's shoulder.

Madam Pomfrey ran out of the school at some point and started taking the kids inside with McGonagall.

"Someone's already alerted St. Mungo's," Harry heard the nurse say to the Headmistress. "Two women arrived not long ago and told us what happened. They say help is on its way."

"Oh, that's wonderful – so many of the students need medical attention. We must tell the parents," McGonagall replied. "How much calming potion do you think we have in stock…"

Their conversation faded as they moved further away and Harry looked down at his daughter. "Are you hurt? Do you need to go inside?"

"No," she said. "I'm okay. I just want to go home."

Harry nodded. "I know…"

It wasn't long before he saw the familiar figures of Jules and Jett crossing the grounds toward the group. He assumed they had been the ones who Madam Pomfrey had spoken of when she said someone had contacted St. Mungo's.

Jules quickly found Ferris and pulled him close for a kiss, while Jett stood away from the others looking rather dejected. She wasn't far from Harry and when they made eye contact and she acknowledged him with a nod of her head. He didn't know why she was there, but took her presence as a generally good sign since it probably meant she was on their side after all.

"You know why they wanted the kids, don't you?" he asked.

"Yes," she admitted. "They were going to mutate them. Odin said it was a way to make impure witches and wizards useful to pure bloods, but really it was so he could brainwash them and bulk up his army."

"Why children, though?"

"They're bodies are still growing," Jett said darkly. "They're more likely to survive the transition than adults. You can even look at the newest Millitis Optime – none of them were above eighteen when they were changed."

Harry knew now why the Neos had congratulated Trevor on surviving: he was the first child they ever experimented on and he'd clearly accepted the changes quite successfully. That victory must have given Odin the idea to use more children as his pawns.

The Auror was disgusted by the mere thought.

Gus walked up to Jett then, holding the pocket watch in his hand. He held out the now slimy silver object to her and she cupped it in her hands, peering up at him.

"Alton said I should give this to you," he told her.

"It was Charlton's," she said, smiling down at the watch.

Gus nodded. "I know. I'm glad you kept it."

"Harry! Kyla!"

Father and daughter whipped around to see Ginny running toward them with Agape close behind. Kyla reached out and was immediately pressed into her mother's chest. Harry was baffled to see his wife and Agape covered from head to toe in dust.

"What on earth happened?" he asked.

"The Ministry was attacked," Agape explained. "That's why I couldn't bring the trainees to help you – we were too busy fighting at headquarters. Harry, level two is virtually destroyed."

Harry's head jerked back to Ginny. "Why were you at the Ministry?" he asked, his eyes wide with concern. "I thought you were at home!"

"I was looking for you," Ginny told him. "But it doesn't matter now, as long as you and Kyla are safe."

Harry put his arms around his two girls as Ginny's brothers and Hermione came over to them, completing the rather tired, roughed up family.