THE SUM OF ALL FEARS
Hogwarts
Scotland, U.K.
November 14th
2022 A.D.
Athena continued to smile triumphantly at the site of Albus's true nature. This was exactly what she had wanted, to revert him back to his instinctual side. The side that would want her more than Aurora.
Albus looked in his pockets and eventually pulled out his phone. He gave it a quick check to see that it was still working then walked over to Athena. They left the stunned soldiers and re-entered the castle through the smashed double doors. He charged straight over to Aurora and wrapped his arms around her.
Athena scathed, seeing that she still had to work on him a little more.
"Are you all right?"
"I'm fine." Aurora nodded.
"I told you to stay away!" he growled.
"I couldn't sit back and do noth -" she was cut off.
"You cannot put our baby's life at risk like this!" Albus hissed causing Athena to smirk.
Aurora looked away with guilt plastered all over her face.
"What the hell are you two doing here?!" James blurted.
Everyone turned and looked up to see The Bobs coming up the marble staircase. "Sorry we're late."
"That bloody Herbology teachers got eyes in the back of his head or something!" Bob two exclaimed.
"Yeah, the silly bugger wouldn't let us fight!" Bob one added.
"You lot are going to be doing anymore fighting!" Athena said. "we'll handle this." she was referring to her own species.
"Bollocks to that!" Scorpius huffed.
"Aurora's trained us to fight!" Lily agreed.
"You've had five weeks of training!" Amelia shot back.
"She's right. You lot need to get back up the dorms!" Ron said, siding with older and more powerful members of the group.
"Now, why am I not surprised to see the Bobs have escaped!" Tannis said walking into the main entrance.
"We didn't escape -"
"We just left without telling anybody." Bob two finished.
Tannis rolled his eyes. "I'm glad to see you are alright, Lily." he turned to Albus. "you all right?"
Albus nodded.
"What now?" Harry asked.
"Now, I go out and have a little chat with them." Albus said simply. "and you two are coming with me." he looked at Athena and Aurora.
"Albus, she shouldn't -" Athena began but was cut off.
"She isn't leaving my sight! And neither are you for that matter!" that wasn't open to negotiation.
The two ladies glared at each other for a second.
"The rest of you take cover here." Albus ordered.
"You do have a plan don't you?" Scorpius asked.
"I always have a plan." he smirked. "let's go."
Albus, Athena and Aurora walked out of the main entrance and into the grounds that were still crawling with Muggle military forces. They passed the destroyed humvee that Jerry had taken out and headed for the command tent. All the troops in the area kept their guns aimed at Albus, despite the fact that they wouldn't go even the slightest bit of damage to him.
They marched straight into the tent where all the soldiers were wearing looks of panic.
"Who's in command?" Albus asked.
Two men stepped forward. They didn't seem afraid of Albus but were clearly very cautious. "I'm Major Weatherspoon, this is U.S. Commander F -" He was cut off.
"You got any coffee?" Albus asked.
Weatherspoon nodded towards one of the frightened soldiers who went off to fetch him a cup.
Albus took a seat at a small table, with Aurora and Athena standing behind him.
"I'm under orders. You know I can't order the retreat." Weatherspoon said sitting down across from him.
"And you know I won't let you take Athena." Albus stated as the scared soldier placed a hot cup of coffee in front of him.
"Aren't you sort of going against your own principles then?" The American commander asked. "I thought you were suppose to be the good guy?"
Albus smirked. "I'm not that good."
"So you're content to just let an entire countries economy collapse?" Weatherspoon asked.
"I'm just doing what I have to."
"Why?"
"So many people ask me why I do this," Albus smiled casually and sipped his coffee.
Athena continued to watch the soldiers around them like a hawk. She was ready to attack at a moments notice.
"And everyone that asks me is always surprised by the answer. Not because it's some kind of earth shattering, philosophical revelation that opens peoples eyes to a new world of possibilities but because it's so simple and obvious and easily ignored,"
He pulled out a cigarette but couldn't seem to find his lighter. He lent back on his chair a little allowing Athena to bring her forefinger forward and put it to the tip of the cigarette. A small blue spark shot from her fingertip, igniting the cigarette. No one seemed all that surprised.
"I do this because it has to be done," He smiled. "The world is full of coulda, shoulda, woulda's but sometimes, something comes along that has to happen... I'm the guy that makes sure that it does. I learn from the mistakes of the past. Your mistakes."
He nodded to the men sitting across from him.
"Let me ask you a question. What if, hypothetically speaking, the atomic bomb had been dropped at the beginning of World War II? I'm taking, like, a week after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor or even before that, 1940, '39? How many lives would have been saved? True...a few hundred thousand would still have been killed but...maybe it would have been worth it. No D-Day, no Battle of the Bulge, no Holocaust! Maybe the Cold War would have happened, maybe not. Who knows. If it did, there would still be 20 million people alive and well, to deal with it." Albus smiled. "That's the thing, isn't it. So few people think about the future...the big picture...,"
"Everyone thinks about the future," Weatherspoon said.
"You think about your future. The future of your country, your family, your life. Unfortunately, man is a party animal. When things are going great right in front of your faces, nothing else matters. You ignore everything that could put a downer on your happy little world and all you really think about is how to keep it going or make it better. I think about the future of the world. The future of Mankind. The big picture,"
"So that's why you're doing this? For the future?" the American commander asked.
"Exactly. To ensure that the world goes on spinning, certain things must be done whether we like them or not. True, sometimes I'm not subtle about it. Sometimes I'm forced to resort to brutal methods but I'm confident that the ends will justify the means."
"Your ends?" the American asked again.
"Everyone's," Albus said before taking a drag on his smoke. "I told you, I'm interested in one thing: the future. And believe me when I say the only way to get there is together. I am trying to stop you from making a very big mistake."
"Well there's a problem with that plan," Weatherspoon remarked.
"Really?"
"Yeah, it only works if everyone else agrees with the ends,"
"Ahh, I see your predicament. Unfortunately, because you people don't see the future in the same light that I do, I can't show you what the ends look like..., you're just going to have to take it on faith," Al grinned.
"If it were up to us, we probably would. But it's not," the other commander said.
"I know..., that's one of the great shames about this," Albus checked his watch. "sorry guys, we gotta go. Gotta go to work, thanks for the coffee,"
Albus stood up and the moment he did, 30 rifle barrels were pointed at his head. Little red points from laser sights were poker-dotted around their bodies. Camouflaged solders everywhere had targeted him, Aurora and Athena as the commanders in front of him got out of their chairs as well. The operations tent was packed solid with military personnel, radio and tactical equipment, and a lot of tension.
They had been daring enough to actually walk in there because they knew that they couldn't actually get hurt. However, it wouldn't stop the military from trying if they got the chance.
"You have five minutes to pull your forces back. If you don't, you will have a very bad day," Albus growled.
He, Aurora and Athena walked to the entrance where 8 soldiers immediately raised their weapons at them.
"Move," they hesitated. "I won't ask again,"
The soldiers let them pass and the trio exited the tent.
They moved passed the endless array of military hardware that had been used to knock down the shield. Albus looked up in the sky but the jets had gone. Probably refueling and rearming somewhere nearby. Albus knew they wouldn't heed his warning but he was willing to give them another chance. Then he'd give them a taste of what they could expect. If they still didn't retreat, he would make them.
They entered the school through the smashed double doors. Directly inside, Harry, Ron, Amelia, Lincoln, Scorpius, Rose, Hugo, Lily, Violet, Lynx, the Bobs, Teddy and Tannis were taking cover with wands and guns at the ready.
"What's happening?" Harry asked quickly.
"Relax, it's under control," Albus said instantly.
"You think they'll listen?" Athena asked.
"No," he said back quickly and turned to Tannis. "Students safe?"
"Not with them around." he nodded to the Muggle military forces that were holding on the perimeter line. "They're in the dorms."
"Good, they should be okay there." Albus pulled a satellite phone out of his pocket and tossed it to Athena. He checked his watch again.
"They're not moving," Athena stated.
"They still have 40 seconds,"
They watched through the broken doors as soldiers moved out and around the school. Near the operations tent, several of the officers were talking down on radios, probably to their superiors but none of them were pulling back.
"Target the MRLS's," he said.
Athena turned the phone on and closed her eyes.
On the perimeter, the computer control screens on two MGM-140 Multiple Rocket Launch Systems flickered and buzzed.
"Got 'em." She smiled.
Albus checked his watch again. They had 10 seconds left.
"Lock on." he said.
"Wait, Albus! You don't have to do this! Give them more time!" Harry pleaded.
"They had their chance."
The Turrets on each of the Rocket Launchers came alive and turned to face each other. Soldiers around them started to run about and panic, trying to pull and cut wires out of the computer systems.
"Albus, don't do this! Please!" Harry yelled.
The missile hatches opened on launch pads.
The soldiers yelled and bolted from them, running as fast as they could away from the school. Other soldiers in the area ducked for cover and hid behind tanks and vehicles. They were out of time.
"ALBUS DON'T!"
"Hit 'em!" he growled.
The boosters fired! The missiles ejected from the ports and struck each other head on, in mid air. The explosion was so huge that it engulfed half the grounds. The noise was enough to pop a person's eardrums. Vehicles and soldiers were blasted through the air as fire scorched the entire area. What was left of one of the Missile Launchers catapulted though the sky and struck a tree on the edge of the Forbidden Forest, while other debris slammed into the side of the castle.
Albus raised a huge shield which caused the shrapnel to bounce off and back towards the line. Harry and the others nevertheless hit the deck for cover.
The flames subsided and were replaced by heavy smoke. All around, burning pieces of military equipment lay on the ground. Medics quickly rushed around to tend to the wounded soldiers as screams of pain cut the air.
Harry slowly picked himself off the deck and looked around. His face was awe struck with horror. "Oh, my God!" he breathed.
"Yeah...they're probably thinking the same thing," Albus chimed and Athena smiled deviously.
"You didn't have to do that!" Harry yelled.
"You ain't seen nothing yet!" Albus smiled. "put me through to them." he said to Athena.
She closed her eyes and opened up a line to the partially destroyed command tent. The signal was very weak and the phone crackled and buzzed.
"I warned you!" Albus growled. "That was nothing compared to what I can do to you! Pull your forced back now!"
He didn't wait for a response because he already knew that they weren't going to obey.
They watched for a moment as the troops ran all over the place, trying to put out fires and carrying wounded soldiers away. Albus walked over to Athena and started whispering something in her ear. She seemed to find his words very interesting but continued to look quite professional.
"I could do it but not with this," she held up the phone. "the signal is barely strong enough to override the ones that are here. I need something with a direct satellite link."
"How about one of the radios in that tent?"
Athena grinned. "That would work. What if they still don't back down?"
"If they don't, you know what to do."
Athena nodded at his orders.
"Aurora, take everyone up to the Room of Requirement and stand by at the secret passageway." Albus said.
"What good will that do, they control Hogsmead." she asked.
"Trust me." Albus smiled.
"Lincoln, you're coming with us."
"What about the rest of us? We can help!" Hugo whined.
"Sorry mate, this next part if for Anomalies only." Albus stated.
Lincoln checked his ammo and cocked the rifle as the others began heading up stairs. Albus, Athena and Lincoln walked out of the entrance. The unwounded soldiers immediately sprang into action, taking cover behind intact vehicles and standing ready with their weapons.
"FIRE!"
Thousands of bullets shot towards the three Anomalies but no one connected. Albus had wrapped a shield around them causing every piece of hot lead to bounce off in different directions. The three of them continued walking forwards as the soldiers threw everything they had at them.
The barrel on one of the tanks turned and aimed straight at Albus. With a massive jolt, it fired. The shell shot towards him but stopped dead the moment it hit his shield. He raised his hand and flicked his fingers. The shell suddenly spun around and shot straight towards the tank that fired it, destroying it immediately.
Lincoln broke off from the group and started returning fire at the soldiers while their rounds passed straight through his body.
Athena looked up to see the dark clouds above her. She could feel the electricity and static in the air and raised her arm to the sky. The lightning bolt shot down and scooped her up. A second later another one brought her back to earth only she was now standing right behind a group of soldiers that were still firing.
She sent off bolt after bolt at them, blasting them away with ease. She then turned both her arms towards one of the remaining MRLS's. A stream of blue voltage flew from her palms and struck the missile launcher. She continued to pour power into it, causing the metal to melt and the missiles to ignite. The vehicle exploded in a massive ball of flames as Athena latched hold of another lightning strike and disappeared into the sky.
Lincolns rifle clicked empty. He had no more rounds and discarded the weapon. He grabbed a grenade off his belt and started running, full speed towards a tank that was preparing to fire at him. He pulled the pin but held onto the spoon as he continued to run straight at the hardware.
He phased just as he got in front of it, running straight through the armor and inside the belly. He dropped the live grenade and continued to run through, eventually emerging from the other side. The tank shook and sparks and flames shot from the port holes as the grenade explode inside.
Lincoln darted off to find another weapon.
Albus's shield was suddenly struck by a heavy spray of gunfire from the sky. He looked up to see one of the attack helicopters baring down on him. Albus blasted himself into the sky and grabbed hold of the tail shaft. He put himself into a rampant spin, swinging the entire chopper around by it's tail!
He released it and watched the out of control machine slam into the ground and explode before shooting through the air again. This time he targeted the last two remaining tanks, grabbing one by the barrel and using it like a sixty tonne baseball bat to smash the other one out of the way.
Lincoln bolted across the grounds towards the crashed helicopter that Albus had just taken down. He moved over to the side to see one of the mini guns still intact. He pulled out his pistol and shot the clamps off it. He picked up the enormous weapon and opened fire, sending four thousand rounds a minute into one of the humvees.
Athena road a lightning bolt down to the ground, landing just outside the command tent. Albus touched down just behind her and they both entered the tent as Lincoln continued to lay off cover fire with the massive assault weapon.
Athena sent a bolt at the two soldiers that were still inside the tent before marching over to their communications equipment. He grabbed hold of the radio that had been given a satellite hook up and began moving her consciousness through the signal while Albus stood guard.
The sounds of Mini Gun fire continued to sound out all around them as Lincoln took care of the soldiers outside.
Athena's closed eyes flickered as she continued to move through cyberspace, travel through their many systems and overpowering their security measures.
"I'm in." she said simply.
"Do it."
A few seconds went passed. Lincoln entered the tent, weaponless. "I want a Mini Gun for Christmas!" he said slightly out of breath.
"I've armed their missiles. They're fueling and will be ready to launch in twelve minutes." she reported.
"Good, put me through to them."
Her eyes flickered for a second. "You're on."
Albus picked up the radio and pressed the transmit button.
The White House
Washington D.C., U.S.A.
November 12th
2022 A.D.
"What the fuck?!" one of the Generals blurted while looking at a laptop computer screen.
"What's happened?"
"We just went to DEFCON 2!" he breathed in disbelief.
"I never gave that order!" the President snapped.
"No one did! The system's been completely overridden!"
The screen started flashing. DEFCON 1
"Oh, my God!"
"What?!"
"Our nukes just started fueling!"
"That's impossible!"
"Target packages are shifting!"
"What are they targeting now?"
"Every major city in the United States!" the General went pale.
"It's her!"
"Now that I have your attention..." Albus's voice echoed through the Oval Office causing everyone to freeze. "I am going to ask you for the last time, order your troops to pull back, now!" his voice was coming from the speaker phone sitting on the table in the center of the room.
The President walked over to the speaker. "Our country is under attack! We are defending ourselves!"
"You won't have a country to defend unless you do exactly as I tell you!"
"Damnit you can't do this!" the President yelled out of pure desperation.
"I am doing this!"
"I will not do nothing while my country falls to pieces! Our economy is already -"
"Your economy is repaired." Al's voice cut across his causing the President to fall silent.
He looked to his staff, who quickly typed away on various computers. Soon after they looked up is complete shock and nodded that he was telling the truth.
"Pick up your phone Mr. President." Al's voice said.
The President slowly walked over to his desk and sat down in he chair. He picked up the red phone on his right and held it to his ear.
"I don't want to hurt anyone else but someone seems to want me to." Al voice said immediately almost as if he had become omnipresent all of a sudden.
"What do you mean?"
"Don't you see what's going on here? Someone wants you to go to war with the wizarding world! Someone has framed Athena and attacked your country to set us on a collision course. Someone is playing us off against each other!"
"Who?"
"That's what I intend to find out. Stand your forces down and we will resolve this peacefully." Albus offered.
The President thought for a second. His words had stuck a core and made a deep suffocating feeling fall over him. He turned to the Generals in his office. "Pull all our forces away from Hogwarts immediately." he order.
They started giving orders down telephones.
The various computers around the room flickered slightly. The huge letters that had taken over the screen suddenly returned to: DEFCON 4
"I think it's time that you and I met Mr. President." Al's voice said.
"All right, when?"
"I'll let you know." the line went dead.
The President put down the phone and breathed one of the heaviest sighs he'd ever had to. He had sweat patched under his arms and was still shaking from the adrenaline. They had avoided this crisis but it defiantly wasn't over yet.
Hogwarts
Scotland, U.K.
November 14th
2022 A.D.
"It's done, let's go." Albus said.
The three Anomalies walked out of the tent and marched back over the grounds as soldiers left and right started receiving orders over their radios. The slowly began moving away from the area leaving the destroyed vehicles but carrying their dead and wounded.
Harry and Ron emerged from the entrance.
"I told you to stay in the Room of Requirement!" Albus growled.
"You didn't actually expect me to leave, did you?" Harry asked with raised eyebrows. "They're leaving?"
"Athena can be very persuasive when she wants to be." he said quietly causing Athena to shot him a suggestive grin.
"I bet." Ron mumbled.
"Come on, we're all going up to the Room of Requirement now, I want everyone away from here just to be safe." they continued walking towards the castle.
Just before they reached the entrance, Athena suddenly span around with lightning shooting between her fingers. Lincoln pulled his pistol and took aim but neither of them fired.
Albus hadn't turned around. "I've been wondering how the Cleric's knew we were in Paris." he said simply as dread fell over Harry's face.
Ron was standing directly behind Albus with a loaded gun pressed against the back of Albus's head.
"Ron, what the hell are you doing?!" Harry breathed in shock.
"Is it true?" Ron asked, his voice shaky.
"True?"
"Is it true Albus?!" he demanded.
"Ron, get that gun away from my sons head!" Harry yelled.
Athena and Lincoln remanded frozen in place with their weapons aimed.
"True about the Prophecy? About me?" Albus was calm and sounded almost as if he was simply making conversation with his uncle. "I see they told you about that?"
"Prophecy?! What Prophecy?!" Harry blurted.
"Oh apparently, I will bring about the destruction of this world, emdad/em. That's why Ron has a gun pressed against the back of my head right now. Not exactly the Legacy you were hoping for, ah?"
"What?!"
"Is it true?!" Ron yelled.
"Is it true that I am a Chosen One...yes. Is it true that I am capable of doing something like that...yes. Is it true that I will kill you before you can ever pull that trigger?" that trademark smirk fell over his face. "Yes!"
Ron was suddenly blasted backwards, the gun that was in his hands flew through the air. Before Lincoln or Athena could fire, Albus grabbed the gun in mid air and pointed it at his uncle.
"We'll miss you at Christmas Ron!"
"NO!" Harry screamed.
He fired.
Ron span and flopped to the ground, face down in the dirt, not moving.
Everyone stood in shock for a second before Harry tried to run over to Ron's body. Albus stopped him a grabbed him by the throat, pressing the gun against his temple.
"Now I'm starting to wonder who's side you're on! Maybe the Cleric's put two spies in my camp!" Albus growled as Harry looked at him in complete fear.
Albus had just killed his own uncle.
"Get in the fucking castle!" Albus hissed, pushing Harry away.
With no other choice, thought or feeling in his body, Harry began slowly walking back to the castle while looking back at Ron's lifeless body. Tears started to form in his eyes and he couldn't look anymore.
Albus took one last look at his traitorous Uncle before turning back towards the castle. Standing in the entrance with a ghostly white look of horror on her face was Rose. Standing just behind her was Scorpius and Aurora. She had just witnessed Albus kill her father.