Part 2

An unnatural cold filled the room. The screams were growing louder. Frank didn't need to look to see what was causing it. Dementors. Someone had set Dementors on them. Frank assumed that Voldemort and the Death Eaters were behind it.

Anthony Goldstein stopped talking, his eyes fixed on the entrance. Some people started to run. The men and women on the stage spoke a few words to each other than the interpreter Madam Blumberg stepped to the speaker's desk. "Bitte bewahren Sie Ruhe. Panik hilft niemandem. Befolgen Sie die Anweisungen der Sicherheitskräfte. Don't panic. Follow the advice given by the security personal."

Frank looked towards the entrance. About twenty Dementors had entered the building. More seemed to follow. The German Aurors had conjured Patronuses but they weren't able to chase the Dementors out again. Instead, they floated through the room, making more and more people panic. The Ministry witches and wizards tried to install order.

Frank felt one of the Dementors come closer. He felt as if he were falling into cold water. Alice fell to the ground, hit by Lestrange's curse. The next moment, Frank saw a flash of red light approach him, his counter spell missed its mark...

"Stop!" he told himself. The Patronus Charm. He needed to conjure a Patronus. With the Dementor so close, it was hard to think of a happy memory. His eyes fell upon Cordelia Savage who had her own wand raised. His colleague had survived. Another fighter against Voldmort who was still alive. There might be more.

"Expecto Patronum!"

A silvery fox jumped out of Frank's wand and started to charge at the Dementor. His wand seemed to like this spell. It performed it easily as it had done back in Madam Jovanovic's wand shop.

Cordelia had also conjured her Patronus. It looked like a falcon, a peregrine to be precise. Frank didn't understand that it hadn't changed after everything that had happened. This wasn't the moment to think about it however. Both fox and falcon charged at the Dementor, chasing it away from the two British Aurors easily.

They weren't the only ones who had used the Patronus Charm. Frank saw more silver creatures in the room. The German wizard who had declared that he was proud to be Muggle-born had conjured a horse Patronus. Meanwhile, the two pretty witches with the fashion magazine had started to mutter an incantation that sounded unlike anything Frank had ever heard. It created a web made of silvery light that immobilised any Dementor it hit.

One of the wizards in the front of the room aimed his wand at Anthony Goldstein and spoke the Killing curse. He just managed to finish saying "Avada" when he was hit by a jet of purple light from the wands of Anthony's escorts. Madam Blumberg used a spell that pulled the unconscious men up onto the stage like a fish on a hook.

The man with the short dark hair shouted orders in Hebrew. As he listened to him, Frank thought that the two young women were probably trapping the Dementors with a spell in ancient Hebrew. He recognised the man now as well. Ari Shafir had turned some Death Eaters who had attempted to cause trouble in Israel over to Frank and his colleagues during the First Wizarding War. A very competent Auror. Frank assumed by now that Anthony's other companions were disguised Aurors as well.

Frank was glad about that because the German Aurors obviously needed support. They were attempting to get the exit free but so far, they weren't successful. The other Ministry officials tried to keep the rest of the people from harming themselves in panic. Some of them had their wands drawn and attempted to fight while others looked very scared. The Dementors all attempted to get towards the stage. Obviously, Anthony Goldstein was their target. At least, they didn't attempt to kiss any innocent bystanders but Frank knew it might come to that at any moment. The various flashes of light indicated that the attackers weren't all Dementors anymore. There were humans among them as well.

Shafir and his three colleagues on the stage had conjured up a strong Shield charm that kept their charge safe from any more curses and kept enemy humans as well as Dementors from getting up.

"Contain Dementors here!" Shafir shouted at the fighters down in the hall. He indicated an empty corner of the hall. "Everyone with Patronus, help!"

Frank was glad about this command. He had been unsure what to do but this seemed like a reasonable approach. His fox turned and started to drive one of the Dementors towards the corner. Various other people helped as well. Among them Luna and her husband, the Muggle-born German, a dark-skinned man with dreadlocks and a woman with short blond hair. Her Patronus took the form of a snake, a fact that didn't exactly reassure Frank about her loyalties. She wore the Healing Oath-bracelet but that didn't make him trust her more either. Cordelia's falcon was chasing Dementors as well while its caster had joined her colleagues at the entrance. Keeping a Patronus while using other magic at the same time was quite a feat.

One of the young women who probably were Israeli Aurors conjured a wall of silver flames around the corner. The Dementors could enter their makeshift prison through it but they could not leave.

Together, they were quite successful in rounding up the Dementors. One by one, they dragged them behind the wall of fire.

The Dementors weren't their biggest problem now however. Wizards wearing black cloaks and masks had entered the building. Unlike the Dementors they didn't ignore everyone who wasn't their target. Instead, they blindly fired curses everywhere around them. More people started to scream and tried to run away but they still couldn't get out. The Ministry officials had serious trouble protecting them now.

"Die Leute müssen hier raus. Wir müssen einen neuen Ausgang schaffen!" one of them called out. "Geht das in Ordnung?"

"Machen Sie!" a woman who obviously held a higher position called out.

The Ministry officials started chasing people away from a part of the room, then they raised their wands in unison. Frank soon understood what their illegible German shouting had meant. Under their spell the wall started to disintegrate. About five minutes later, there was an entrance with a heap of stones beside it. The Ministry officials started to use it to get the people out.

"Kommen Sie auch," one of them told Frank.

He shook his head. "I'm going to fight."

"We don't want any civilians left here," the Ministry wizard said.

"I'm an Auror myself."

"Very well. It's your choice."

One of the masked Death Eaters cast the Imperius curse on one of the visitors and tried to make him disrupt the evacuation. This was Frank's moment. He had to stop him. Frank directed a Stunning spell at the Death Eater. The man whirled around and blocked the spell. He walked towards Frank, his wand raised. Frank used the chance for a wandless "Expelliarmus" but the Death Eater blocked it again.

"What a surprise. Frank Longbottom," the Death Eater said. "Bellatrix and Rodolphus won't be glad to hear you're alive. I'll have to tell them. You'll pay for bringing me to Azkaban."

Frank didn't listen but continued to cast spells against him but the man was good enough to block them and talk at the same time. He clearly was one of the older inner circle Death Eaters. Ian Mulciber, if he wasn't very much mistaken. The sadistic Imperius curse specialist had delighted in forcing people to do terrible things.

Frank tried his hardest to bring him down. Mulciber was forced to remain quiet now. Fighting off Frank's spells took all his concentration but Frank still didn't get an advantage. They were rather well matched. One of Mulciber's spells wasn't contained by Frank's Shield charm completely. A gash appeared on his cheek. Frank felt blood run down his face but there was no time to linger. His next spell went through the Death Eater's protective charm and forced him to duck. Frank quickly let another curse follow. It would disable Mulciber if it hit but the Death Eater managed to block it once again.

"Maybe you want another taste. Crucio!" he shouted.

Unforgivable curses from accomplished users couldn't be blocked by a simple defensive spell. Frank needed a more advanced shield charm which was powerful enough to deflect the curse. It didn't allow him to attach Mulciber at the same time though. The Death Eater kept trying to get through Frank's shield with his Cruciatus curse.

Frank knew if he wanted to get out of this defensive position, he'd have to drop his shield and attack again. He found he just couldn't do that though. The even slight chance of being subjected to this curse again paralysed him with fear. The shame Frank felt about this reaction didn't aid him in the fight either.

When a second masked figure appeared behind Mulciber, Frank knew that he'd probably lose. He had no chance to fight two Death Eaters at the same time. In the past, he had been good at using a spell that allowed him to quickly move around the room. This would probably be his best chance now. Frank didn't know if he was still able to do so.

Before he had a chance to try, a flash of green light erupted from the second masked person's wand. Frank threw himself sideways but Mulciber hadn't noticed the other fighter's presence. The green light hit Mulciber and the Death Eater fell face forward to the ground, the wand still in his outstretched hand, his mouth still forming the Cruciatus curse.

The other person had cast a non-verbal killing curse, a rare feat indeed. One flash of green light and one of the most feared Death Eaters from Voldemort's inner circle lay dead on the ground.

"No talk, kill," his attacker said to Frank. It was a woman and Frank was sure that he had heard her voice before. He noticed the rune armband and the skull pin on her robes. Frank was almost certain that it was Aslaug Schreiber. Her mask was white unlike the Death Eaters' usual black; he should have noticed that right away.

"Für Volk und Vaterland," she shouted. Another wizard with a white mask cast an unknown curse on the closest Death Eater. The scream of the man chilled Frank to the bone. The dark wizard's spell had cut his entire belly open; the man's intestines were visible for anyone to see. The curse must have been some version of the Sectumsempra only with a different incantation. The Death Eater soon fell silent; the massive injuries had killed him.

Mulciber and his unlucky comrade didn't remain the only victims. The attackers, "Grindelwald supporters" as Cordelia had called them before, caused a blood bath among the surprised Death Eaters.

Obviously used to fighting Aurors who intended to capture rather than kill, they had not expected this amount of ruthlessness from their enemies. One by one was slain, some of them by the killing curse, others by more bloody means.

No one was sure who was fighting whom anymore. In the battles Frank had been involved in before there had been Death Eaters, Aurors and Order members and innocent bystanders. Most of the time, he had known who was which. Here, everything was chaotic. Aurors from three different countries were fighting without much coordination while two groups of dark wizards were fighting each other as well as the Aurors. It was extremely hard to tell friend from foe.

"The wards around the Dementors have been broken. Will you help me keep them in?" a female voice asked. It belonged to the young Israeli Auror who had already dealt with the Dementors before.

"Of course," Frank said. The Dementors were easily recognizable as enemies.

Some of them were indeed trying to escape. Frank like his foreign colleague believed strongly that the Dementors had to be kept from running wild and maybe kissing people. He conjured his Patronus fox again and it kept them in their prison corner while the Israeli Auror renewed the wards.

"Do you know who these people are?" she asked. "Do they belong to the German Ministry?"

"I don't think so," Frank said. "They support some dark wizard who's lost power 60 years ago or so I've been told."

"Oh, I see. Maybe we should remain here and make sure that the Dementors stay where they're supposed to be. Let the Germans sort this out among themselves."

Frank agreed. Protecting the remaining people from the Dementors seemed like a sensible idea at the moment. They weren't likely to attack the wrong people this way. Frank knew so little about the situation here that this would be a real danger if he fought the humans. He wasn't sure what to think about those Grindelwald-supporters. They had been polite enough to him but their cruelty was shocking. They made it impossible to interrogate any of the Death Eaters they had defeated and this wasn't good for the Aurors.

"I'm Osnat Leibovich by the way, junior Auror of the Israeli Ministry of Magic."

"Frank Longbottom. I used to be a British Auror before the regime change."

"Pleased to meet you Frank. I'm glad about everyone who's resisting this madness."

A white-masked figure appeared before them, wand raised. "Verschwinde! Wir brauchen keine Hilfe von so welchen wie dir! (Go away; we don't need any help from your kind!)" he shouted at Osnat.

Neither Frank nor the Israeli Auror understood her. It didn't sound very friendly though.

"What do you want? We don't understand any German," Osnat said.

"Dann verstehst du das hoffentlich! (Then you'll understand that I hope!) Crucio!"

The Cruciatus curse sounded strange when spoken with a German accent. Frank didn't doubt that effect was the same though. Osnat deflected the curse and started to fight her attacker fiercely. Frank did his best to help but he had to admit that the young Auror did much better. He really needed more training.

Together, Frank and Osnat managed to subdue the man relatively quickly.

"Watch the Dementors, I'm going to make a section for human prisoners," Osnat said busying herself with her wards again. She had finished quickly and Frank took the captured Grindelwald supporter behind the newly erected wall of blue fire.

Osnat shouted something in Hebrew to Ari Shafir who was directing his Aurors' efforts from the stage where Madam Blumberg stood guard over Anthony Goldstein. The young author watched the fight before him with a horrified expression on his face.

Shafir responded in Hebrew before switching to German. He was soon joined by two German Aurors, a man with greying eyebrows and a woman with half-long brown hair. They climbed up onto the stage and obviously discussed what they were going to do next.

The leading Aurors gave orders in German and Hebrew, Frank understood neither. "I have to go up," Osnat told him. "We're supposed to retreat for the moment. Will you look after the prisoners?"

"Yes, I will," Frank promised.

German and Israeli Aurors assembled on the stage behind Shafir's wards. Frank saw Cordelia among them. Beside her stood a man with a long ponytail. He too seemed familiar to Frank but at the moment he wasn't sure who he was. The leaders discussed something with them. They weren't talking loudly enough for Frank to understand even if they had done so; he wouldn't know what was going on because of the language barriers. Maybe they considered undoing the Anti-Disapparition wards. This way they'd be able to get Goldstein to safety without problems. They might get even more attackers into the building though. Frank wasn't sure how he'd have decided. The Healer with the snake Patronus was up there with them as well.

Something searing hot flew past Frank and he jumped aside just in time. He was under attack again. Another Death Eater if the black mask was anything to go by. When he heard the Death Eater speak, Frank realised that it was a woman. Probably German if her accent was anything to go by.

The German Death Eater woman didn't talk to Frank like Mulciber had done; she probably didn't know who he was. Instead, she tried to attack him as swiftly as possible. Maybe she wanted to retrieve the Dementors. Frank knew that he had to prevent this. The Death Eaters would do anything after the losses they had suffered, probably also allowing the Dementors to perform the kiss.

The woman was an able duellist but not as well-trained as Mulciber, Osnat or Frank himself. He was able to keep her away from the Dementors, at least for now. Capturing her and making her join the Grindelwald supporter would be even better though.

Another Death Eater came to the woman's aid. He was rather hunched and started shouting spells right away. Another British one but not one of the elite. Frank could deflect his curses easily. Still, he knew that he wouldn't be able to keep up against two Death Eaters for long. He had no choice though. The other Aurors had left the fight and receiving "help" from a Grindelwald supporter wasn't a desirable option.

He had to hold on, he had to hold on, Frank told himself as he had done back then against the four Death Eaters. The memory weakened his fighting skills and one of the female Death Eater's spells almost hit him.

Frank just managed to dodge it when the male Death Eater began to stare at some faraway point. There was a horrified look on the part of his face the mask left free. Frank used the chance to knock him out. Then he realised what had distracted his opponent. A golden mist was spreading through the room. It slowly crept towards them. The mist obscured the rest of the fight from view but Frank could hear new screams.

Both Frank and the Death Eater woman pointed their wands at the mist and tried to dispel it. It wouldn't work. The less solid a substance was, the more difficult using magic on it became.

"Grindelwalds Gas," the Death Eater said in horror. "Sie vergiften uns jetzt. They're going to poison us!"

Grindelwald and his supporters had been able to successfully create a highly lethal gaseous potion that allowed them to kill many people at once. It had been their most infamous weapon. The British Ministry had feared that Voldemort might use something similar but he had never done so, at least not on a large scale. There had been a substance called "Garrotting Gas" but it had mainly killed people who tried to make it and had never been used with much success.

If the new Grindelwald supporters had the recipe for this, no one in the room would stand a chance. Frank knew that. They had already proven that they didn't have qualms about using dark magic against Aurors.

"We need to slow it down," Frank said as the mist crept closer and closer. There was only the makeshift prison and the wall behind them. Frank didn't believe he'd be able to create a new exit on his own. The walls were too strong for this. Slowing the poison down was their only hope.

"Try together?" the Death Eater asked. The visible part of her face was very pale, oddly contrasting with the black of her mask.

"Yes," Frank said. It probably was their only chance. Joining his magic with that of a Death Eater was a strange feeling indeed but charms performed by several people at once grew far more powerful.

The joined spell managed to slow the spread of the mist down. It took Frank plenty of effort though. He knew that he wouldn't be able to fight much anymore after this. If there was an after at all.

Frank's strength was decreasing rapidly. Soon he realised that he'd become unconscious if he kept this up. It wouldn't make much of a difference.

"I'm sorry, I can't do it anymore," he whispered.

"Me neither," the Death Eater woman said. There were tears in her eyes. "Ich hätte niemals, I should never have believed them. I should never have agreed to this. I should never have tried to kill this poor young man. He only did what he thought was right. I was such a fool."

"At least, you didn't kill him," Frank said as the mist came closer and closer.

"Yes. I didn't kill anyone. I didn't kill anyone," she muttered to herself again and again.

The mist had reached them. It had a slightly sweetish smell. Frank had expected it to hurt his eyes or throat but it didn't. He felt nothing.

Then nausea started to overwhelm him. The Death Eater was already vomiting. She tore her mask away, revealing a freckled face surrounded by red hair. She looked very young. How many naive young people had Voldemort seduced and how many of them had died painfully this evening?

He wasn't able to stand anymore. Neither was the Death Eater. Both sat down on the floor while waves of tiredness were washing over them. At least it wasn't painful Frank thought before he lost consciousness.

There were voices all around him. Some of them spoke in foreign languages but he did understood one of them. It belonged to a woman.

"I'm sorry Frank. We couldn't get you up as well. Your identity hasn't been certified yet."

Frank realised that his eyes were still closed. He opened them. Cordelia Savage stood over him, the blond Healer with the snake Patronus by her side. Two Aurors were half leading, half carrying the red-haired Death Eater away. She looked back once, her face very pale. Other prisoners still wearing their white and black masks were being taken away as well. Nurmengard would have to prepare plenty of new cells.

"What was that?" Frank asked.

"Paralysing gas," Cordelia explained. "A very useful tool if you want to end a fight and still have living prisoners to question afterwards. It doesn't have many side effects and there are a few Healers here who are familiar with it and can act if something does go wrong."

Frank looked at the blond woman. He didn't think that a Healer should agree to something like that even if they were doing it for a legitimate Ministry but he wasn't really surprised.

"You need to accompany me to the Auror's office in Stuttgart as well," Cordelia said. "We need to make sure that you are really who you claim to be. If you are, you can stay with me afterwards and we can talk if you want to."

"Alright," Frank said still rather dizzy. He was ashamed because he had ended up unconscious in a fight once again but there probably wasn't a way to defend oneself against this paralysing gas, at least no way he knew off.

He looked around the room. The chairs and tables were thrown around or broken from the fight, Dementors and dark witches and wizards were led away and injured people carried out of the hall. There was blood on the ground.

"What happened to Goldstein?" Frank asked. "I actually came here to speak to him."

"He's fine but you won't be able to meet him I'm afraid," Cordelia said. "I think they're going to take him back to Israel right away. This was the second time his tour has been attacked and they don't want to take any more risks for the moment."

Frank could understand this decision even though he didn't like it. Voldemort and the Death Eaters had achieved a victory this way even though they had obviously lost the fight.

"I think we should go now," Cordelia said. "I'll take you side-along apparition."

Frank didn't like the fact that he needed this but he still felt so dizzy it was probably for the better. Maybe he'd find out something about his family when he had his identity confirmed and could talk to Cordelia and the other exiled wizards.