[Dublin – Ireland]

When Harry and Ron apparated into the middle of the street, the cool Irish morning was steadily melting into a proper scorcher. The road was roped off and large barriers hid the crime scene from view on either end. Aurors and other magical law enforcement officers were hurrying about up and down the road.

The scene had all the trappings of a muggle terrorist attack. Cars were flipped, the sides of buildings bore large craters in them where blasting spells had hit them, a bus was on fire, and there were bodies everywhere.

Ron made a sound in the back of his throat and shook his head, composing himself. Harry did his best not to look too long at any of the bodies as the head obliviator on the scene jogged over to him.

"It's been absolutely mad here sir, but we believe we're airtight." she reported. Harry nodded grimly. That was the first thing he'd heard that could be construed as somewhat positive.

"Thank you Miranda." He sighed, "I expect we have modified survivors' memories such that this is all remembered as an accident?"

Miranda nodded. "Yes. Though it seems a disservice to the victims and their memory. This was mass murder. It wasn't a gas explosion…the suspects are still at large!"

Harry knew just how she felt. Indeed, as they spoke ministry wizards were rectifying any damage that could not have been from a gas explosion and rearranging evidence so as to make the elaborate cover-up believable.

"It's because they are still at large that the muggles must be kept in the dark. We don't want to force anyone's hand." Harry explained, dismissing the witch.

He scanned the two-dozen or so witches and wizards working on the site, trying to find the ranking auror.

Ron tapped his shoulder, apparently two steps ahead of him, and pointed at a ministry wizard clearing rubble with a vanishing spell. "He's there." He muttered.

"Do we have any leads at all then?" Harry asked once he and Ron had reached the man.

Danson's eyes flickered from side to side quickly before he put his arm around Harry and lead him off into one of the now-deserted shops. Ron followed them, producing his wand and soundproofing the door which had splintered and cracked in several spots.

They entered the small, empty café and took seats. "As far as anyone else in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement knows, we don't know who they are and there was no consequential evidence." Danson said in a hushed tone.

Harry nodded. "Right, but we'd been keeping tabs on these men for a bit now."

"Luckily the Aurors who were involved in the firefight were able to secure the scene before anyone else arrived. We thought it best to keep this at least within the auror office until we can put together a more meaningful picture." Danson slid a slip of paper about the size of a business card across the table to Harry.

It was blank, and grayish white. For a moment nobody said anything.

"Well then…what the bloody hell is it?" Ron said finally, flipping the card over to reveal a second blank side.

Danson, looking slightly indignant, tapped the paper thrice with his wand. A dark black symbol appeared on the paper, reminding Harry uncomfortably of a certain bewitched diary. The ink traced the shape of a snake biting its tail in a circle and the center of the circle bore what appeared to be two down strokes forming a sort of upward pointing arrowhead.

Danson turned the card over. The opposite side now bore the words "The Dark Order Will Rise".

Harry peered at Danson over his glasses. It was too soon to decide what this latest development meant, but he doubted it could be a good sign.

Pocketing the slip of paper, Harry stood. "This could mean they are not working alone..." he said biting his lip. "The Dark Order…" he muttered. He'd heard it before, though he couldn't quite place it. He supposed it wasn't that uncommon a phrase and might not really mean anything.

Then again, if it didn't mean anything, would it really be the title of this story? I don't think so. Clever reader.

Danson stood as well but Ron motioned for him to wait. Turning to Harry he muttered "We should talk to the ministry wizards who fought the perpetrators."

Harry turned to Danson. "Can we speak to them in here then?"

"Of course." Danson obliged and left them, returning moments later with three men and a woman in tow. "The rest sustained injuries and are currently at St. Mungo's" and with that he was gone.

Harry leaned against the glass window of the café and motioned for the four to sit. Two of the men were aurors, Sunstad and Simmons.

The other two, a man and woman, bore hit wizard badges.

Harry listened carefully and Ron scribbled notes as they relayed the story in turns from different perspectives. The aurors had told Levitz to wait to hear more about what the dark wizards had planned, but he had been intent on apprehending them.

"I'd never seen anybody draw their wand faster. Two of them had hit him with killing curses before we knew there was any trouble." One said, his voice still shaky.

The fight had broken out into the street only, as Matevich had already relayed, because the dark wizards had started to wreak havoc on the muggle storefronts. This struck Harry as odd, considering that the dark wizards had disapparated shortly after.

Only when the retelling had come to an end did he raise this concern. "If the culprits were so intent on disapparating once you'd pinned them down, why weren't they so eager when they first fled the pub?" he asked.

One of the aurors, Sunstad met Harry's eyes. "We had the same concerns sir. We believe the wizards intended to wreak enough havoc to send the ministry into a frenzy before disapparating. The death of an auror in the process of apprehending individuals suspected of illegal activities may put a little strain the auror office whilst we attempt to track down the wizards responsible, yes. However…"

The female hit witch picked up where he trailed off "However, if they destroyed half a city block and murdered dozens of muggles, well that would concern the obliviator squads, the hit wizards, focus the auror office almost entirely on the four wizards responsible and occupy the entire Department of Magical Law Enforcement."

Ron stopped writing. "Hang on then, not only us. The Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes will be involved of course, and the minister's office. This certainly can't help our relationship with the muggle PM."

Harry nodded. "They want to keep the ministry busy, which means-"

"They've got something else planned." Ron finished.

Simmons sat back as though glad they had come to the same conclusion. "And since these four didn't seem too concerned with drawing our attention to them, there could be something bigger that we aren't seeing."

Harry fingered the slip of paper in his pocket. "So you think they aren't acting alone?" he probed, wondering how much they already knew.

As though he could see the card in Harry's pocket Sunstad replied, "We expect that's where this Dark Order comes into play."

There was a beat filled with a loaded silence before anyone spoke next.

Ron redirected. "I meant to ask…well I don't mean to be rude…I'm not sure how to – that is, how exactly did these four manage…"

"To fend off a dozen trained ministry wizards?" finished the Hit Witch.

"They had a unique dueling style." Explained Simmons, ready for this question but still looking rather embarrassed. "Two only ever cast defensive magic. Shield charms, disarming spells, wards and the like. The third was the only one to actually strike out against us. One of his stunners broke clean through Jenkins' shield charm like it was naught but an eggshell. Nigh impossible to defend against. The fourth one was responsible for most of the blasting spells. He seemed a bit out of place. Shorter than the others, and he appeared to be in charge of diverting our attention. It was as though they'd trained to duel in a group."

"We could hardly keep up enough fire and anti-apparition charms to hold them down with the front wizard on the attack. Wicked strong, spooky almost." Added Sunstad.

"It was a well-oiled machine we were fighting, and we were…just human." The Hit Wizard marveled.

Hours later, Harry and Ron sat down for a small lunch. They'd spent most of the morning and early afternoon collecting information, assisting with evidence adjustments and discussing with the highest-ranking members of their staff how they might move forward with the investigation.

By the late afternoon the scene of the massacre looked exactly like a street where there had just been a very unfortunate gas explosion. Harry was reminded, much to his displeasure, of another man who had once caused magical havoc in a muggle street, which killed several innocent people and had been passed off as a gas explosion.

They had barely gotten back to the ministry when Harry was summoned to a meeting with the minister.

Kingsley had just come from a meeting with the muggle prime minister and was looking rather calm considering the magnitude of what had just happened under his ministry. Harry realized that before him was a man who had been through two wizarding wars, lost countless friends and colleagues and spent much of his life as a dark wizard catcher. He was not one to lose his cool in the face of tragedy or violence.

Harry spent much of the meeting filling Kingsley in on exactly what he knew about the incident, but not before Kingsley had made it so that they couldn't be heard through the door and ensured the secrecy of their meeting.

Though he was hesitant, Harry also disclosed the theory that this attack could be intended to busy the ministry of magic with a diversion whilst other, perhaps more nefarious, matters were planned.

Kingsely's gaze remained unreadable. He seemed to think for a moment, then answered rather sagely "At this point we can't know for sure what their intentions were, but I think it would be best to keep the possibility of a larger organization a very real concern of ours. Still, without other leads our best bet would be to find the four wizards. I believe they were seen by a number of ministry officials."

Harry nodded and made to leave. He'd reached the door before Kingsley spoke again. "Oh, and Potter, I want you to station some men at Hogwarts, effective immediately."

Harry's brow knitted. He understood the minister's concern for the students, considering that three of the four wizards had previously indicated an interest in 9 and ¾ .

Indeed, if this matter didn't blow over in the coming weeks (which he hoped it would), he would be much more comfortable sending his children back to school knowing it had bolstered security. However, he resented being asked to spare some of his men straight away to protect what would be a nearly empty castle for the remainder of the summer.

Harry wondered if he should argue the matter.

"Minister, the students don't return for another two weeks…" He began.

"Yes Potter, I'm aware." Kingsley cut him off quite bluntly, though he said nothing else, and Harry understood himself to be dismissed.

Author's Note: Sorry for the slight delay on this chapter and thanks for all of your kind words, both in reviews and which have been sent to me privately. I've been quite busy with my work IRL, but I am still looking for a beta reader or even anyone who would agree to read chapters through quickly to catch any obvious mistakes. Please PM me if you're willing to beta read.