Dance of the Fairies, Flight of the Phoenix
Chapter 62:- Out of Hiding
It turned out that Morgana and Grimoire Heart had done an awful lot more than crashing a single live broadcast in Edinburgh on the night of the New Year. The United Kingdom was but one of the many places around the world to receive an attack within the space of a few hours. They were showing absolutely no restraint whatsoever, and wherever they went they left destruction, and the deaths of many innocent Muggles.
The biggest target to be struck was another Live New Year event taking place in Times Square, New York. Every year, a special event is held there where a huge LED sphere descends down a pole for sixty seconds, coming to rest exactly on the dot of midnight. But the very moment it reached that mark this year, a huge plume of black flames came thundering out of nowhere and shattered it like a wine glass on the floor! The zombified Zancrow was then seen thundering amongst the panicking crowd, his God Flames sending anything that got too close to him flying.
And the shattered Sphere suddenly put itself back together, and was raised above the head of a scowling Ultear, who sent it crashed down into the streets and rolling away like colossal bowling balls, even making several copies of it in order to maximise the number of people that it rolled over!
But Live events were far from the only thing that was targeted. One of the Egyptian pyramids was brought crumbling down with a humongous gravity wave from Bluenote! The Eiffel Tower was completely overrun with trees and other plants that bent the metal out of shape and left a similar wooden structure in its place courtesy of Azuma. And footage of the great statue of Jesus in Rio de Janeiro being felled by Kain Hikaru, made of iron and smashing away at the base with just his fist, were quickly sent all over the world, while Rustyrose's great beast - Thunderclap Belcusas - brought the Leaning Tower of Piza crashing down in much the same way.
It was just as Kilgharrah had said - she was going all out in her offensive. There was barely a major country in the world that didn't have something of great cultural and historical significance destroyed or at least damaged. Over a mile of the Great Wall of China was torn down, the great dome in the middle of the Taj Mahal was melted, and the Sydney Opera House was completely razed.
Morgana wanted to make her statement to the world as bold and extravagant as possible. And it most definitely succeeded.
By the time the sun rose again in the United Kingdom, the attacks had ceased and both Morgana and Grimoire Heart once again vanished into the shadows. But by then the damage was done.
The Ministry's of Magic of some of the countries that hadn't had their national monuments vaporised on Live TV tried their best to come up with a perfectly logical explanation as to why this had had happened - from simple arsonists to miniature localised earthquakes. And if it had just been mindless destruction it was possible that they could have succeeded. But the lynchpin was Morgana's idea to reveal themselves on air, and there was no possibility that the United Kingdom's Ministry of Magic could find everyone who had been watching that broadcast and seen the following news reports and wipe their memories. Nor did they know how to stop the footage from spreading to other countries. And by the end of New Year's Day, half the people in the world had seen what had happened. And many of those that hadn't read about it in their newspapers instead.
And it had an immediate effect on the Muggle populace. Almost nobody in the whole of England went outside that day, suddenly terrified of running into a witch or a wizard where once they had stepped outside daily without a care in the world. Everyone was looking at their neighbours with sudden suspicion. Children weren't allowed to go out and play with their friends for fear that one of them could be a young sorcerer. The country almost ground to a complete halt as everyone tried to figure out their thoughts on the subject.
And the Wizarding World wasn't a lot better. Fear was just as rife with them too. After years of living in peace in the shadows they had suddenly been thrust forcefully into the light by the foreign invaders. Most witches and wizards didn't really associate with Muggles around them that much, but suddenly they felt very isolated and alone in their homes, absolutely surrounded by non-magical people who many of them had once looked down on. Everybody kept their wands on them at all times, fearing an attack at any minute!
Not to mention both sides of the equation were gripped by the same sheer terror of the supposed perpetrators of all this chaos. Fairy Tail themselves! The wizarding community had been scared before, but now many all but soiled themselves at just hearing the name! After so long with no activity, many had started to relax, maybe thinking that Fairy Tail had even gone home to their own world, but this had been the biggest raw display of power that they'd exhibited yet as far as they knew! And while before they had just been a threat, now they really were declaring war on the world!
And Cornelius Fudge was receiving hundreds of angry messages and calls from various other Ministers of Magic across the world. Of course, all magical governments had been made aware of Fairy Tail's existence, but they'd all believed themselves to be relatively safe from the wrath of the offworlders, as it had seemed Fairy Tail was more or less localised to the UK. Many had even initially offered help in catching them, but Fudge and the other Ministry officials had declined them - assuring everyone that they had the situation well in hand and that they were more than capable of catching the invaders on their own.
Clearly those words were very much coming back to bite Fudge now. It was like every other Minister in the world wanted to skin him alive at this point, and he was sending out constant apologies, but there was really nothing he could do. The damage was done… and now governments of the world, Magical and Muggle alike, had to figure out what they were supposed to do next.
There were immediate calls to action from the Muggles - millions of them demanding that their leaders root out and destroy all witches and wizards they could. Which put them in an awkward position indeed because most world leaders did know about the Magical world. Not all of them, but the majority. And now they had to face the question of whether to admit to the people who had put their trust in them that they had in fact known about the secret world of magic right beneath their feet for some time! In the present climate, it would very likely ruin most of their careers to do so, but they all knew they had to at least do something!
But what? How could they proceed from this point on?
It took a lot of frenzied e-mailing and phone calls amongst the Muggle leaders to come up with something that might at least allay the people for the time being.
"A UN summit meeting?" Fudge asked, frowning in utter bemusement from his place at the other side of the table from the Muggle Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
"Yes, that's right," the Minister nodded. "We're arranging one as fast as we can. All the countries of the United Nations need to get together and have a serious talk about how we should proceed now that magic has been ousted to the world," he spoke with a bitter, resentful tone and kept running a hand through his hair as if he was only just stopping himself from trying to pull it out. "I can't believe this is happening! This is not what I signed on for when I ran for this position!"
"I could say exactly the same thing, you know," Fudge protested. "It's not like I wanted this to happen."
"But it did," the Minister glowered. "I received assurances that you had this Fairy Tail situation under control and now look what they've done. It may be a worldwide attack but it's going to come out sooner or later that they've been mostly operating out of Britain! Can you even begin to fathom the potential consequences of all this? I don't want to think about it, but I have little other alternative!"
"And what do you expect us to do about it?"
"I expect you to be there!" the Minister glared. "We're scrounging for the earliest meeting time we can on January 5th, at the UN's headquarters in New York city, and you have to be present. I never told any of the other world leaders I knew about the existence of magic but now we're all admitting to each other that we knew - France, Italy, America, Russia, India - everyone! And most of us agree the same thing. Now that wizardkind is known, they have to come forward! They have to declare themselves openly and peacefully to the world as soon as possible! If they stay in the shadows after all this, its only going to make things worse."
"But… but the Statute of Secrecy…"
"Is! Gone!" the Muggle Minister growled firmly. "Fairy Tail saw to that last night, Fudge. There are no secrets anymore. We can't just pass this off as a hoax or an elaborate trick like we did last time with the boy at that avalanche. If wizards and witches keep trying to hide, my citizens are just going to think of them with more suspicion! So… you have to come forward, declare that Fairy Tail's actions do not represent those of the wider magical community and promise to come to the UN summit to try and negotiate on how to proceed now that you're no longer secret! And it's not just you - every Ministry of Magic around the world has to do the same. It's the only way that we can reach a somewhat peaceful resolution to all this!"
Fudge looked down, spinning his bowler hat in his hands nervously. He wasn't happy about the idea of going to America to do this - he would have preferred it if they could keep things internal. While the different Ministries of Magic co-operated with one another frequently, mostly they still kept to themselves and tried to sort out their problems. That was why Fudge hadn't called in any foreign support for suppressing Fairy Tail, and why none of the other Ministries had really offered.
But now… perhaps the Muggle Minister was right. Magic had just been revealed across the entire world. Maybe it wouldn't be enough to just focus on Britain this time.
"…Very well," he said slowly. "I will do it."
"Good," the Muggle Minister nodded. "This is your mess, Cornelius. I really hope that we'll be able to clean it up! And quickly!"
Fudge gripped his hat so tightly that his knuckles went white. He could practically already hear the scorn from the other Ministers of Magic for letting this happen.
"I want every Auror out on the streets searching for absolutely any sign of Fairy Tail," Fudge was barking half an hour later as the Wizengamot had convened together, with Rufus Scrimgeour present more or less just to be barked at. "All other priorities have to be put on the back burner for now. The escaped prisoners from Azkaban don't even matter in the face of this! Fairy Tail have just ripped apart our very way of life! We can no longer spare any expense against them! We have to find them and bring them down!"
"But how, Minister?" Scrimgeour growled in response, already well aware that nothing that had happened last night had been Fairy Tail's doing. "Even if we end up being lucky enough to capture one of them, we have no way of containing them! We still have almost no Dementors left under Ministry rule and as far as I can see that was the only thing that worked in keeping them in line."
"Agreed," Fudge nodded. "That is why I am voting that, for the purposes of bringing Fairy Tail in, we grant the Aurors special permission to use the Imperius Curse. It's a terrible spell to be sure, but we don't have too many other options and this may work at keeping Fairy Tail under control."
Scrimgeour wanted to protest, but knew he couldn't, especially after the majority of the Wizengamot voted for Fudge's suggestion a moment later. The Imperius Curse was extremely unlikely to work, but if they were all so quick to legalise an Unforgivable Curse… then the circumstances were indeed extreme.
Amelia Bones wasn't willing to be so quiet though.
"Minister, do you honestly believe that Fairy Tail are behind these terrible attacks?" she asked.
"Why are you even questioning it, Madame Bones?" Fudge threw up his hands. "I saw the… foot age… Merlin knows why the Muggles call it that but I saw it. It could only be them, and they admitted it for the whole world to hear!"
"Which is exactly what I would do if I was someone trying to frame Fairy Tail for their own actions," Amelia protested. "We cannot just take them at their word like this! These attacks don't fit Fairy Tail's modus operandi!"
"You're referring to your belief that Fairy Tail only ever attacked places before in order to rescue something?"
"Yes."
"And does that include Malfoy Manor? Who were they rescuing from there exactly? No, Madame Bones. I do not have the time to debate this any further and I cannot allow myself to wonder any longer about whether I'm right or wrong about Fairy Tail. Even if they were framed by someone, and quite frankly I don't know who could possibly do such a thing, but even they were every Ministry in the world - Magic and Muggle alike - is now expecting us to bring them in and that's exactly what I intend to do. Sitting back and debating will just make us look worse - they want action and they want it now. And if Fairy Tail, by some miracle, turns out to be innocent then we will find out the truth when we have them behind bars."
Amelia sighed, but was forced to concede that actually Fudge was right this time. The entire world was in panicked disarray, and in the other Ministries saw signs of complacency in the midst of this crisis it was likely that they would try to impose themselves to sort it out in Fudge's stead, and they didn't have the insight into Fairy Tail that the British Ministry had already acquired.
Without a doubt, something had to be done now. Even though she was still absolutely certain that that hadn't been the work of Fairy Tail.
But as the Wizengamot hurried out of the meeting hall to try and do their parts to put out the panic going on through the populace, Amelia was pulled up short with a hand on her shoulder from Scrimgeour.
"You really don't believe Fairy Tail was behind this?" he asked.
"Not really. I don't know what to believe at the moment but this seems so out of character with what I've witnessed of them," Amelia sighed.
"Good. Because I know they didn't."
"…Excuse me?" Amelia blinked in surprise.
"Come with me, Madame Bones," Scrimgeour's jaw quirked into a tight smile. "I think its time that you met Fairy Tail for yourself. Properly this time."
"I should be angry," Madame Bones said over an hour later, still trying to sort through the sheer weight of information that had been heaped upon her in the last sixty minutes and looking around at the amassed members of the Fairy Tail, the Order and even several of the DA all crowded together in the Room of Requirement. "I should be downright furious in fact! I am the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and yet practically everyone in this room has broken those laws. Harbouring fugitives from the Ministry, right in the heart of Hogwarts School no less… it beggars belief. It really does."
"Does that mean that… you're actually not angry, Auntie?" Susan asked - the young Hufflepuff having been found and brought in by Harry as soon as Madame Bones was led into the Room of Requirement by Scrimgeour and a disgruntled looking Aberforth. The only main player that wasn'
"…Yes and no," Amelia massaged her forehead. "I am definitely angry, especially at you for keeping this from me, Scrimgeour. And you too, Shacklebolt. But… I am also grateful. Through finding and befriending Fairy Tail, I think that you've all managed to considerably decrease the amount of damage that could have been caused. Both physically and politically."
"Sure doesn't seem like the political side of things are going well right now," Sirius muttered, and Amelia looked to him quite sharply. For the moment she was willing to trust Dumbledore's word with regards to Black's supposed innocence but it was still weird to see him reclined in an armchair right there, looking thoroughly grim.
In fact, most of the room was looking grim. Or just plain angry. There were no smiles at Amelia's semi-acceptance of them - not even a hint of one.
"They used our name," Natsu growled so lowly that he sounded more like a bear than a man. "They used our name when they took people's lives and tore down all those buildings! Those BASTARDS!" he leapt to his feet, his fists already ablaze as if he was about to pummel someone in the face right then and there. "THEY'RE NOT GOING TO GET AWAY WITH THIS! I WON'T LET THEM! WE NEED TO GO POUND THEM INTO A FREAKING PULP RIGHT NOW!"
"And where exactly do you propose we start, numbskull?" Gray yelled back at him. "If we knew where they were, this wouldn't have happened in the first place!"
"WELL WE CAN'T JUST SIT BACK AND DO NOTHING! THEY'VE GOT TO PAY FOR THIS!"
"Agreed," Erza stated, her eyes set in furious stone and trembling so much with rage that her armour was rattling a little. "They will pay for this. You have my personal word on that. But we cannot take the fight to them yet so push your anger down, Natsu. Store it within you. That way when we actually do find them, you'll be able to unleash all of it at once. That's what I intend to do."
"Ghggnng…" Natsu grunted, and it almost seemed like putting the fire around his fists out was one of the hardest things he had ever had to do. But he did it all the same.
"This is really bad," Lupin whispered. "I never would have thought Morgana would just… out all magic like that! At least not before she managed to take over - I was expecting her to let the Muggles know about it only then. What does she have to gain by doing it now?"
"Obviously the main goal is probably to spread discord between the magical and non-magical communities," Mirajane murmured. "I can only imagine how scared the Muggles must be feeling at this moment."
"But why?" Juvia reiterated. "Wouldn't it have been better if most of the world didn't even know about the looming threat she represented?"
"Not necessarily," Kingsley supplied. "If the magical and non-magical communities are fighting each other, that means that the Ministry will likely end up having its hands full trying to deal with that. And if that's the case, Morgana can continue forward with the next stage of her plan relatively unhindered. And she probably used Fairy Tail's name to drive you further into hiding from the Ministry and keep you out of her way."
"She should know that's not going to work," Natsu muttered, but few of them heard him.
"Kilgharrah told me a few things about Morgana," Tonks said. "He said that she was once a good person, friends with Merlin and Arthur and all the others, but fear of being persecuted and killed for possessing magic in the time of the Great Purge twisted her to hate King Uther and fall into darkness. Perhaps she's done this as a form of recruitment as well. If things get bad enough, many scared wizards and witches might end up turning to her for protection from the Muggles. Or some may just come to hate them enough to join up with her against them anyway."
"Maybe, but how could they turn to her if they don't know where she is?" Cana asked.
"Perhaps she doesn't intend to stay hidden for that much longer," said McGonagall. "Or perhaps she'll use her… for lack of a better word, minions… to do the recruiting while she follows her own bigger picture."
"Speculating about why she's chosen to do this is all well and good," Sirius piped up. "But I think we should be focusing a bit more on what the heck we're going to do about it now. There's no way that we can reverse what's happened. The secret's out… so how do we respond?"
"Well, with any luck the UN summit meeting at the end of the week will do some good," Amelia sighed.
"The UN summit?" Ron frowned. "What's the UN summit?"
"UN stands for United Nations, Ron," Hermione supplied quickly. "It's an intergovernmental Muggle organisation that helps to promote cooperation between different countries, founded after World War II to try and keep another world war from happening. And I think that this coming meeting, more than any other in its history, could be a crucial one to do just that!"
"Miss Granger is correct," Amelia nodded. "With any luck, magical and non-magical governments will be able to come to a mutual understanding. But it will be naive to think that all Muggles will just suddenly become okay with the idea of magic users after that. Especially after the sheer destruction that Morgana… I can't believe I'm talking about the actual Morgana… left in her wake with these Grimoire Heart enemies of yours."
"That's all well and good," Gajeel growled. "But that's not going to do jack shit in proving our own innocence in all this. Is it safe to say that any chance we might have with making peace with the Ministry has been royally fucked now?"
"Language, Gajeel, please," Lily rubbed his forehead.
"Coarse behaviour aside, Gajeel has a point," Carla said from her position in Wendy's lap. "There are very few courses of action we can take at this point that will help us in getting this manhunt to stop. Even if we were somehow able to make peace with Fudge and the rest of the Wizengamot, we now have to make peace with every single other government on the planet. Muggle and magical alike."
"Indeed," Makarov sighed deeply through his nose. "And… with that in mind… I'm afraid there might be only one true option open to us. The First Master and I have already talked this over with Dumbledore… and we believe it might be for the best. And you brats aren't going to like it."
"What is it, Old Man?" Laxus raised a brow.
"…We have to surrender."
Natsu was immediately on his feet, as was Gray and Elfman.
"SURRENDER!? ARE YOU MAD, GRAMPS!?
"THERE'S NO WAY THAT'S HAPPENING!"
"A REAL MAN DOESN'T SURRENDER TO HIS ENEMIES UNLESS THERE'S NO OTHER CHOICE!"
"We wouldn't be surrendering to our enemies, you dolts!" Makarov growled. "We'd be surrendering to those we're trying to make peace with! To the Ministry. Trust me, I don't like it either… but it's for the best."
"He's right," Mavis said, hovering above the group where they could all clearly see her. "Up until now we've been running from the Ministry, refusing imprisonment and trying to convince them we're on their side even while going about and destroying their property. And it hasn't exactly worked out well for us. We came close over the last month I feel, but when all's said and done we haven't been behaving like innocent people. And we've definitely had our reasons for doing so considering how judgemental, rash and harsh the Ministry have been on us through their fear. Now their fear of us is going to skyrocket thanks to Morgana. And the only way we can counter that is to do the exact opposite. We need to let go of our pride and hand ourselves in."
"Isn't that a bit extreme though?" Happy shivered. "What if they try to surround us with those Dementor things?"
"I don't know why you're shivering, Happy. You've not actually encountered one yet," Cana muttered.
"You wouldn't need to worry about that," Amelia assured them. "Most Dementors are still AWOL after Azkaban fell, and if you did surrender and promised to fully cooperate, those that are left would be kept far away from you. I will not allow such a heartless action to be undertaken through fear again. I didn't approve of it before either."
"You were definitely against it when it happened to me," Levy agreed, hugging herself slightly. "I remember it a little too well."
"Indeed not. Fear is not an excuse for mistreatment."
"But there's loads of people that are scared of Fairy Tail, now more than ever thanks to Morgana," Ginny protested. "If they surrender… wouldn't Fudge insist on it?"
"Fudge is not a dictator, child. He does not have all the power in the Ministry - I have my own authority in my own department. And if I say that you are to be treated fairly then there's very little Fudge can do about it. What happened with Miss McGarden was an unfortunate case of Fudge panicking and giving an order and the damage being done before I could override it. I would not make that mistake."
"But I still don't like it. It feels like… we'd be giving up," Natsu clenched his fist.
"Far from it, young man," Dumbledore sighed. "You would be doing the exact opposite of giving up. Have you ever heard the phrase - actions speak louder than words?"
"Yeah, we have that one back in our world too," Lucy nodded.
"Well, it holds very true in this situation. You have been trying to convince Fudge that you are not enemies with words and inaction, which is understandable. After all, Fudge does not believe that there is any enemy of the Ministry besides Fairy Tail and some escaped Death Eaters who have gone to ground, so proving yourselves to him with action is next to impossible. But think about those in the Ministry you have won over. How did you do it?"
Lisanna nodded. "We won over Scrimgeour-san here by saving his life and fighting against Voldemort in front of him. It was action rather than words."
"And you won over me," Amelia supplied. "More because I was able to see what your previous destructive actions were really about than the words of that Spirit you're friends with. Now that I am on your side, and your name is being dragged through the mud by your enemies, the reasons you had for staying away from the Ministry are no longer a factor. You must come forward and demonstrate in person that you are not the enemy."
"…I concur," Erza eventually said after a long pause. "Surrender is not giving up when you're trying to make peace. We will never surrender to Morgana or to Grimoire Heart… but if we can get over this ridiculous wall that's keeping apart from those we should be allies with, I believe it to be a worthy course of action."
"If it prevents further unnecessary bloodshed, then I agree," said Mirajane.
"Not to mention we have an entire world to prove ourselves to now," Freed sighed. "If there was ever a time to put pride to one side, this would be it."
Several of the Fairy Tail members still looked a little unhappy, Natsu and Gray most especially, but they were all forced to submit to the logic.
"So… how do we do it?" Gildarts asked. "Considering you can't exactly imprison us, you'll be relying on our full cooperation. And even though you'll have it, that's gonna lead to trust issues from others."
"We'll just have to cross that bridge when we come to it. Though I don't suppose there are any ways to… cut off your kind of magic are there?" Amelia asked.
"None that could be found in this world," Erza supplied. "There are a few different ways - special magical binding tubes, sealstone cuffs, magic cancelling lacrimas… the only thing we have that could do it is some of Freed's Rune Magic, and even that wouldn't exactly be enough since several of us know how to re-write it."
"Well then, I suppose trust will just have to do. And it will be all the more powerful for it if we can pull it off. As I said before, the UN will gather in five days time to discuss what to do now that the magical populace has been forced into light. The magical Ministries of its representing countries will also attend, and so should some of you Fairy Tail wizards. Not all of you… but some of you."
"Very well," Makarov nodded. "We will choose five of us to represent our guild at the summit. All of us will surrender the morning before it begins. Lucy… I'd like you to send Loke into the Ministry one last time to deliver this message to Fudge…"
"No," Dumbledore raised his hand. "No, Makarov. I know you are trying to protect those of us who have been helping you to hide from the Ministry, but it will come out that we have been aiding you sooner or later. It is better that we admit to it now than being forced to admit it later. It is more honest, and we've had quite enough secrets being dragged into the light for one week already."
"Dumbledore is right," Amelia nodded. "I will tell Fudge myself that I met with you for the first time today… and that you were being protected by Dumbledore and the Order of the Phoenix."
"But… you could lose your jobs! Your positions within the Ministry," Juvia looked around wide-eyed at Tonks, at Kingsley, at Mr. Weasley, at Bill and Fleur. "We never wanted to put you at risk for protecting us like this."
"And yet we were prepared for it the moment we decided to," said Arthur. "We took the risk that that might happen even before we met you, by becoming part of the Order."
"I will do my best to smooth things over," Amelia smiled tightly. "Weasley, Shacklebolt and Tonks all work in my department after all. I cannot say the same for you Bill Weasley, or you Miss Delacour, but if you end up in need of new employment after this I will find a place for you… I'm going to have to go through a lot paperwork this week… and I'm not guaranteeing it will all work out, but I'll do what I can."
"Thank you, Madame Bones," Dumbledore said. "Truly we are fortunate to have gained you as an ally. But you know Fudge isn't going to like this."
"He means well when he's not worrying about his own position," Amelia sighed. "But quite frankly, things probably wouldn't have gotten this bad if he had just listened to reason in the first place. And I have no intention of letting him get his way any longer."
"He may try to fire you though. He does still have that authority."
"He can bloody try."
That sentence caused more than a few grins about the room. But it wasn't long before Amelia and Scrimgeour made their departure, ready to try and pave the way to sorting out this mess as quickly as possible and leaving a heavy, sombre atmosphere behind them as they split off into groups to talk quietly about the future.
"I guess… this means that you guys might not be around here much longer," Harry sighed, as he Ron and Hermione found themselves sitting with Natsu and his team. "If you let yourselves be arrested, they could take you anywhere."
"This sucks," Ron griped. "I was really getting used to having you guys around, madness and all. You guys have been making school a heck of a lot more interesting."
"Suck though it may, it's for the best," Erza muttered.
"Yeah, and if it all works out," Wendy smiled optimistically, "And we end up getting pardoned at last then we won't even need to hide in here anymore? We could be allowed to go anywhere in the castle, visit you in your Common Rooms, eat in the Great Hall… it could end up being great."
"Too bad the same can't be said for the world at large," Carla frowned. "This is going to create a firestorm that a simple meeting of governments won't be enough to just solve in an instant. There will still be global repercussions, no matter how well this UN meeting goes."
"There'll be many changes," Hermione agreed. "Some good… some bad… but all we can do is hope that the former outweighs the latter."
"It can," Lucy said. "If you guys play things right. Our world is proof of what things can be like with magic and non-magic living together. With any luck, that's the kind of future that will be open for this world."
"I hope so… but with such a massive change… things can easily go the other way too."
The school was filled with nothing but hubbub and panicked whispering between the students for the rest of the day, terror written across almost every face in the whole castle. Fear of Fairy Tail, fear of the Muggles, so much fear piercing everyone like a hail of arrows that it almost seemed that if Voldemort walked through the front doors of the castle at that very moment, nothing would change. And it was a constant struggle for the members of the DA to keep their lips buttoned and come to Fairy Tail's defence.
But fortunately, New Year's Day seemed to be passing without further incident. Many Muggles who didn't have to leave for work early were eventually forced out of their homes to buy food, but nobody spoke to one another. Everyone stared at everyone with suspicion, regardless of age, race or gender… with this new magical threat that had been sprung upon their world, it seemed like anyone could be a potential threat. Anyone could be armed without having a gun or a dagger. Nobody knew who to trust.
There were many naysayers of course. People who adamantly believed that what had happened on New Year's Eve had been an extremely elaborate hoax, stubbornly refusing to admit that magic could possibly be a thing. But these people were relatively few and far between in the grand scheme of things. There was too much evidence for most people to deny it.
And so it was across almost the entire globe - anywhere and everywhere that possessed televisions, radios and newspapers.
Most of the Order had been forced to return to work after the meeting to discuss Fairy Tail's imminent surrender to the governments of the world. Those that didn't had retired to Grimmauld Place, deciding it was better to give Fairy Tail some space to think about all this on their own for a time.
"This sucks," Sirius muttered, for what was possibly the fiftieth time. "So much for a Happy New Year, right?"
"We have to believe that things are going to work out for the better," Lupin drummed his fingers lightly against the tabletop. "Otherwise we may end up being crushed beneath the sheer enormity of what lies before us."
"Even I'm struggling to find the positive side of this one though, Remus. Every time it looks like we're taking a step forwards, something happens to drag us about fifteen steps behind. We keep gaining more and more enemies. First Voldemort, then the Ministry, then Grimoire Heart, then Morgana, and now the whole damn world, more or less! What's next? The government from Fairy Tail's world descending upon us too?"
"Careful, Sirius. You might be tempting fate by saying something like that," Mrs. Weasley said as she half-heartedly focused on cleaning up the dishes.
Sirius managed to give a lopsided grin and said, "Then maybe I should tempt fate in the other direction? Oh, don't worry, everything's going to work out great from now on. We'll all be rolling in the lap of luxury before long, basking in the apologies of the Ministry for being such idiots and laughing at Morgana as she gets thrown in prison. Does that sound good?"
"…I think that's what's known as tempting fate to do the exact opposite of what you're saying," Lupin said a little wryly.
"So whether I say something positive or something negative, fate always wants to jump for the negative… yep, that sounds about right to me."
"Well, be that as it may, I believe that things will work themselves out in the end," Mrs. Weasley supplied. "And this UN summit meeting should be a great start."
"Maybe I should go along," Sirius said, half-jokingly. "Fairy Tail's trying to clear their name. When can I clear mine? They're in exactly the same situation as me now. We both had someone frame us for a crime we didn't commit in public with as many witnesses as possible."
"It might be better if you hold back for now," Charlie sighed. "It might be simpler to try clearing people's names one at a time."
"But it's going to get out that I've been with the Order, helping out, eventually," Sirius sat up a little straighter. "Surely that's the perfect time to try wiping my rap sheet?"
"Got the evidence to back it up?" Moody growled lightly from the corner. "I'm afraid without physical evidence that Pettigrew's alive, you haven't got a hope in hell of convincing the people you're innocent, even with Madame Bones' help. That's just the way it works."
Sirius lapsed into thoughtful silence, but before he could say anything else the front door was suddenly flung open and someone could be heard charging through. The sound was followed by a loud yelp and a crash indicative of a troll's leg umbrella stand falling over, which clearly told them it was Tonks. Sure enough, she appeared at the door a few moments later and cried, "Come quick! There's a suspected Death Eater attack in mid London. In Trafalgar Square!"
Instantly Moody, Charlie and Lupin were all on their feet, as was Sirius. But the latter was quickly stopped by Lupin himself, who put a hand on his shoulder and looked him right in the eye.
"No, Sirius," he said. "Don't make a bad situation worse. Even the Muggles know what you look like thanks to the Ministry. Just sit tight and let us handle it, okay?"
Sirius growled and turned to kick a chair over frustratedly, but Lupin knew he'd got the message. He turned to follow the others out of the door and with them he Disapparated as soon as he reached the doorstep.
Never before had Lupin Apparated into the middle of a public street, but there was no time for discretion. Things were already utter chaos, with Muggles fleeing for their lives in every direction while several witches and wizards strode across the Square, shooting out random spells from their wands and laughing uproariously at how much it panicked the unfortunate Muggles. A few others were battering one side of Nelson's Column with Blasting Hexes and whooped jubilantly when it finally gave way and tipped over, sending the enormous stone structure and the statue of Nelson on the top tipping downwards like a falling tree.
But these people weren't just wearing the traditional black robes and skull masks of Death Eaters. They had also painted a symbol on the back of their cloaks… a symbol that every Order member recognised immediately.
The mark of Fairy Tail.
Lupin growled in an almost feral manner. He could tell their play immediately. The Ministry had suspected for some time that Fairy Tail had deliberately broken the Death Eaters out of Azkaban along with Erza and Cana and that they might now be working together. And now, they were trying to further lower the Ministry's views on Fairy Tail by pretending it was true! These bastards were truly trying to drag Fairy Tail down under the bus.
Aurors were already on the scene, led by Kingsley and Dawlish, and they were working frantically to get the Death Eaters under control. The Square was pulsing with the cracking of Apparition as Auror and Death Eater alike flashed across the square in all directions, trying to get the drop on each other. But even though the Aurors outnumbered the Death Eaters and were clearly more skilful at duelling than many of their opponents - with quicker moves and faster wand work - there were a lot more unconscious Aurors lying around than Death Eaters.
What was going on?
But the Order members didn't have time to mull over that. Instead, they charged straight into the fray.
Tonks lashed her wand through the air and several paving stones uprooted themselves from the ground beneath one of the Death Eaters and flung him into the air, only for him to Disapparate before he could crash into the ground. Instinct spurred her to whirl around and deflect an incoming hex from another and send the next rebounding straight back at him. The Death Eater blocked it right back and let loose a jet of freezing cold wind from his wand in response, but Tonks Apparated out of the way and appeared right behind him, seizing him and hauling him up and over her body to send him crashing painfully into the ground.
"Muggle ways still work pretty well," she smirked, before suddenly a phalanx of three Killing Curses whooshed in at her and she ducked and rolled out of the way, lashing her wand through the air to grab one of the Death Eaters with a whip-like rod sprouting from the tip and heave him into the other. And as they went sprawling, Tonks deftly disarmed the third and sent a Stunning Spell crashing straight into his middle.
But the Death Eater only stumbled backwards a couple of feet… and nothing else. Tonks hesitated, confusion rushing through her body like water through a straw. She'd nailed him dead on and he hadn't protected himself… he should be laid out on the ground right now!
The Death Eater noticed her confusion and grinned. "Weren't expecting that, were you?" he grinned. "We've all been blessed with a few protection spells from our lady. You're going to have to try harder if you want to knock us down."
"Thanks for the tip," Tonks growled, and Apparated in next to him, grabbed him and then took them both about fifty feet into the air, where she dropped him and took herself back to the floor while he dropped like a rock. Looking frantically around the square, Tonks finally saw why the Aurors were being trounced. Many of their spells were bouncing off the Death Eaters without them even needing to block them, allowing them to march forward and press their attack unchecked. Morgana had gotten to every single one of them and made them that much harder to defeat!
And as if to prove it the two Death Eaters Tonks had knocked over before were already back on their feet - forcing Tonks to spin out of the way of the bursts of fire they expunged from their wands. She hit one with a Confundus Charm, which seemed to do the trick because he turned around and started attacking his comrade instead, allowing Tonks to run and look frantically around the battlefield at what the others were doing.
She could see Mad-Eye in the middle of a full frontal duel with a Death Eater who was clearly highly skilled and was pressing Mad-Eye back badly with a rain of curses, though Mad-Eye was able to temporarily pulse him away by making a pipe burst out of the ground and blast him with water, no doubt having seen it through the ground with his magical eye. The Death Eater rolled backwards but swiftly twisted back onto his feet. One swish of his wand and a nearby bench transformed into a lion, which pounced upon Mad-Eye with a deep roar until three Stunners came in from the side to knock it askew and the Aurors that had cast them ran up to give Mad-Eye some support.
Kingsley and Charlie were currently back to back and swinging around each other, trying to anticipate where the next attack would come from even though it could have been literally everywhere. Two Death Eaters popped into existence on either side of them and sent simultaneous Killing Curses launching their way, but Kingsley seized the back of Charlie's robes and heaved him out of the way, causing the two green light jets to collide into one another instead. Kingsley quickly nailed both of the attackers right between their eyes with spells that Tonks didn't even want to know about, but they just shrugged them off like they were nothing and one launched several furious looking Cutting Spells in their direction. Charlie threw up a Shield Charm that took the brunt of the attacks but Kingsley was forced to grab him and Disapparate again when a third Death Eater jumped in with spell that shattered the ground beneath him and sent the pieces flying in their direction.
Lupin was forced to leap straight upwards by turning the ground beneath him bouncy, using it as a trampoline to spring aside from no less than four different hexes, each one completely different from the others, arcing his way. All his Stunning Spells and Impediment Jinxes ricocheted off the Death Eaters, forcing him to come up with newer ways of dealing with them.
He fired a huge stream of dirt from his wand into two of their faces, making them scream and claw at their eyes as their vision was clogged by the grit, only for another to send a swarm of ropes flying in his direction from the side. Thinking quickly, Lupin pulsed a spell at the incoming projectiles that merged all their tips together into a single continuous rope and curled it around like a giant bullwhip back at the opponent. Three more opponents Apparated in around him, but Lupin had already covered his head with a Bubble Head Charm and snapped his wand at the ground to conjure a cloud of foul smelling gas that seared at the Death Eaters noses like skunk spray, forcing them to back off and give Lupin a temporary reprieve to catch his breath.
But two more Death Eaters moved in wearing Bubble Head Charms of their own a moment later, one sweeping the gas aside and one launching a Stabbing Curse in towards Lupin's back even as he summoned a horde of pigeons to flap madly around another's head. Tonks reacted instantly, Apparating herself in to turn the Stabbing Hex aside at the last second and levitating the head of the former Admiral Nelson statue to throw it at the Death Eaters. Even with their protective enchantments they had to get out of the way of that one.
"You alright?" Tonks asked quickly.
"I'm fine… but I can't seem to keep these people down," Lupin grunted. "Morgana must have given them protective spells to make them more of a threat against Fairy Tail."
"You think these guys could take a punch from one of them now?"
"I don't know… and I don't really want to find out."
"Conventional spells aren't going to work now… we'll have to use our imaginations to bring these guys down."
Two more Death Eaters rushed in from the sides and a huge Blasting Hex from one forced Lupin and Tonks to dive apart, the ground ripping asunder in a big explosion that sent them crashing painfully upon the concrete. Tonks was able to roll back onto her feet with surprising speed for a klutz and dodged a Killing Curse, then successfully nailed a man in the face with a spell that instantly caused earwax to fountain out of his ears like hosepipes and try to clog up his face. Lupin, by contrast, caused a couple of nearby salt pots from an abandoned restaurant table to shatter and the contents to fly out and stuff themselves up another Death Eaters nose.
"GGAAAAHH!" the Death Eater cried, howling and sneezing uproariously as he flailed his arms and tried to snort out the foreign substance.
Lupin couldn't help but grin a little. "Looks like I might have to channel some of my old inventiveness as a Marauder… haven't done that for a while."
He was forced to dodge a couple of other spells by making a large hole in the ground he could drop into, but as the Death Eaters converged on the hole he Apparated out and Banished one into a couple of the others to send them sprawling. A burst of wind from another's wand knocked him sideways a moment later but Tonks sprang forwards to conjure a coffin around Lupin's attacker and then shattered to coffin with a Blasting Hex, catapulting him away.
But she herself was thrown forwards a second later, Lupin having knocked her aside himself as a Killing Curse zipped through the place where her head had been seconds before. Lupin then quickly flipped a bench over so it landed on another Death Eater and pushed him to the ground while Tonks grabbed a fallen backpack and magically turned it into a bomb, hurling it into a bunch of Death Eaters like a grenade and forcing them to scatter to avoid the blast.
"Wow, you and me fighting together, just like in Azkaban…" Tonks panted with a wry grin on her face. "I'm starting to think you and I make a good team, Remus."
Remus chuckled. "You might have a point."
But a quick look around the square showed that the Death Eaters still had the upper hand. Fires had been started in the buildings on all sides. Some of the Aurors were being forced to flee the battlefield with serious injuries that prevented them from being any further use, while most of the Death Eaters seemed as strong as ever. Even the ones that Tonks and Lupin had battered down were getting up again, not undamaged but definitely far from out.
"Shit," Tonks whispered - she was not prone to cursing but this qualified as a good time. "What are we meant to do now?"
"We'll just have to find other ways to immobilise them," Lupin growled, lashing an Incarcerous Spell at another Death Eater that sent him keeling over, struggling desperately against his new bonds. But even as he spoke, a loud cry rent the air even above the panicked screams of the remaining Muggles. Tonks gasped in horror when she spotted Savage, keeling over with a huge gash up his front. And moments later, another Auror was cut down by a strange slashing motion through the air, punctuated by a kanji symbol that neither Tonks nor Lupin could translate.
"What the…?" Lupin cried, before suddenly what looked like a huge barrage of eggs came flying through the air to bombard some of the other Aurors. While it might be thought that this would only cause minor pain, these eggs smashed into them like a hail of large bullets, shattering on impact and throwing them backwards with multiple severe bruises.
"Who the heck attacks with eggs!?" Tonks blustered, but Lupin had already found the answer. Standing on the ruins of Nelson's Column was two newcomers to the fight, and neither of them looked human. A strange brown-furred goat-man in a samurai outfit and an enormous chicken man of all things. They were definitely two of the most bizarre people that Lupin had ever seen. But he could tell right away that they were dangerous.
And they too had the Fairy Tail mark. The goat man had it emblazoned in yellow on the front of his armour, whereas the chicken had it in purple on the side of his neck. But the marks were much larger than necessary, which led Lupin to suspect they were covering something else up underneath.
Like the mark of Grimoire Heart perhaps.
"Things just got worse," he whispered. He hadn't realised that there were any more Grimoire Heart members other than those he'd seen on Tenroujima, but now he was staring right at Yomazu and Kawazu.
Yomazu grinned, unsheathing the katana that he'd pilfered last week to replace the one that Gajeel had eaten and leaping straight into the fray. Two Aurors rushed to stop him but in an instant flat he had spun in a circle and yelled, "ZAN!" and another airy slash swept from his blade to crash into both of the Aurors at once. One of them managed to erect a Shield just in time to break the brunt of the blow but the attack slashed through it and still hit him with reduced force, while the other was hit full on with a seriously deep looking cut that had him coughing up blood.
Kawazu leapt into action moments later and sprang onto Yomazu's shoulders, using him as a springboard to shoot high into the air and spray a bunch of eggs from his beak. "EGG BUSTER!" he shouted, and the eggs split open in mid-air causing their contents to spray out and form white fists that slammed several Aurors into the ground as if they'd been punched by a troll!
"So weak," Yomazu grinned tauntingly as he hefted his sword up and over his head, generating a downward slash that swept across the square, cutting a line through the ground and splitting open a nearby wall. "These meagre resistance has no chance of standing up to the likes of Fairy Tail! Taking the world by force will be ridiculously easy!"
"Let them run, I say, pero!" Kawazu clucked, a derisive sneer on his beak. "It'll make hunting them all down that much more fun!"
And with that, they attacked, charging straight past several Death Eaters to lay out any Auror that tried to get in their way. Kawazu was hit by a couple of Stunning spells but they bounced off him, clearly demonstrating that the chicken was either tougher than he looked or he too was being defended by Morgana's magic, or possibly both. Yomazu's sword found its way straight into another Auror's gut and he blocked an incoming storm of jinxes with simple twists of his blade, turning them all aside like they were nothing. With a single thrust and a cry of "KAN!" he sent a huge stabbing attack rupturing through the air, forcing several Aurors to dive aside so it zinged past and pierced through the side of a building, and as the Aurors struggled to get back to their feet, they were probably rained on by a huge barrage of eggs from directly above, smashing them into the ground.
Kingsley swore beneath his breath, but knew that the Aurors were outmatched. They'd been thrown by the resistance the Death Eaters now had to their spells and hadn't been able to recover since, and now this? It was too much.
"Retreat!" he called out across the square, amplifying his voice with his wand. "Aurors fall back! Grab the wounded and return to headquarters!"
"No! We can't leave. We have to protect these Muggles!" Tonks protested.
"We need reinforcements," Kingsley yelled firmly. "Those who can still fight, cover the retreat of the others."
Moody, Charlie, Lupin and Tonks all quickly rushed forwards towards the most obvious threat in a bid to delay them. Mad-Eye twisted his wand sharply and a spurt of oil jetting from his wand towards the Grimoire Heart mages, but Kawazu quickly got behind his partner who raised his sword and yelled, "BO!" to block the viscous liquid with another big Kanji symbol.
Tonks and Charlie Apparated in behind them and Tonks summoned a robe to lance down and tangle itself around Kawazu's head, but even while blinded the chicken man leapt forward at her and tore the garment off him with sheer strength, forcing Tonks to dodge as his hands hammered down towards her head. Charlie tried to cover for her by using a complex spell to make a nearby fallen motorcycle right itself and drive straight towards Kawazu, but he protected himself by spraying eggs which burst open and formed a wall of whites and yolks that the motorcycle crashed into and Charlie was forced to dodge aside as Kawazu's fist nearly met with his face!
Lupin converged on Yomazu with Mad-Eye and successfully hit Yomazu with a Disarming Charm that brought his katana flying out of his hand! Yomazu snarled, but quickly proved that he didn't need his sword to cast magic and slammed his hand down into the ground beneath him. "UCHIKUDAKIMASU!" he shouted, and the concrete shattered and went flying within a fifteen metre radius of his body, throwing both Lupin and Mad-Eye backwards, with the latter's clawed leg splintering to pieces as he fell. Yomazu bounded forwards to retrieve his fallen sword and fell upon Lupin with it in a powerful slash, and only a quick Disapparition managed to get the werewolf out of the way.
He re-appeared not far away, his heart beating wildly, as he looked across to see Tonks crouching under a Shield Charm that was being battered with eggs. Thinking quickly, Lupin conjured a bunch of flowerpots and banished them in Kawazu's direction, which seemed to have a temporary effect and gave the rooster a chance to see what it was like to be bombarded with something for a change. And Charlie conjured a swarm of bees that quickly surrounded him, buzzing and stinging at him, only for another kanji symbol to appear directly behind Kawazu moments later and generate a shockwave that battered all the insects aside. Yomazu sprang into the air and let loose three rapid stabs that sent blades of air jabbing right down for each of them and while Tonks and Charlie were able to Apparate to safety in time, Lupin only just had time to dive away as the spell cut a gash in his side.
"AAAAHHH!" he yelled aloud as he fell to the floor, his hand crashing to the wound in an effort to staunch the bleeding.
"REMUS!" Tonks cried when she re-appeared, terror ripping through them as both Kawazu sent an explosion of eggs thundering towards the weakened werewolf. With a mad swish of her wand she was able to raise a reflection spell that sent the eggs flying back towards their original caster, forcing Kawazu to roll aside, but suddenly Yomazu was upon her, and slashing for her head. Tonks ducked and tried to spin aside but the goat man followed up with a ruthless punch right to her jaw, sending her crashing onto her back.
"You guys aren't bad, for the wizards of this world," Yomazu leered down at her. "But you've only lasted this long against us because you're good at dodging. You just can't take a hit like we can."
Yomazu's sword arced above his head, but just as he was bringing it down in a bid to cleave Tonks in two, Mad-Eye suddenly Apparated in to grab her, fire a massively powerful Reductor Curse into Yomazu's chest and Disapparate out with Tonks all in the space of a single split second. The Curse was strong enough to blast apart the ground where they'd been and would have seriously injured both Mad-Eye and Tonks if they had been there a millisecond longer, but they were able to escape unscathed while Yomazu was blown backwards, flying across the square with his arms flailing. But he was able to keep hold of his sword and flipped himself back upright, plunging his blade into the ground and letting off a stream of letters that slowed him down so he could land on his feet, having cut a line through the concrete and growling as he sought out his attacker.
By this point, most of the Aurors had already pulled out, though Charlie had taken a hit from a Death Eater spell and was clutching at his arm while Kingsley shielded him from attack. Tonks and Mad-Eye crash-landed a couple of feet away, Tonks sucking on her teeth at the pain in her jaw but looking around wildly for Lupin. He was halfway across the square and looked to be in a bad way.
But just as she tried to push herself to herself up to go to his aid, her attention was grabbed by a powerful *CRACK* followed by a thrum of magical power rushing through the air. She looked up, wide-eyed to see Dumbledore himself standing at the top of the stairs edge of the square. The Headmaster's blue eyes were filled with an intensity that Tonks had never seen in them before, and they seemed to take in the entire scene at a glance.
Striding forwards down the stairs, he whirled his wand above his head, dragging flames into existence that pooled across the square, rushing over several Death Eaters and pulsing them backwards with their robes alight. Another flick and the water from the fountains twisted around and jetted into several others. A third flick and suddenly the headless statue of Admiral Nelson and the four metal lions that surrounded the former column all sprang to life, rising up from ground and leaping into action as if they'd been waiting for this very moment. Kawazu screeched and jumped backwards as one of the lions sprang at him, sending a rain of eggs at it which pinged off its metal face. Yomazu turned to face one of the lions and swept a powerful slashing motion from his sword that sliced it half as easily as paper, followed by another, only for the headless Nelson to suddenly seize him from behind and slam him bodily into the ground.
"Gnnnggghhh…" the goat man heaved as the wind was driven from him by the heavy statue, but despite this he was able to twist himself around and plunge his sword in straight where the head should have been and growl "HARETSU!" Instantly Nelson split into little pieces as if he'd been completely ruptured from the inside, allowing him to shrug off the rubble and get back to his feet.
But most of the rest of his forces weren't faring very well anymore. Dumbledore was seemingly taking them all on at once, and even those who apparated in behind him failed to catch him by surprise as he whirled around and caused the stairs to detach from the ground and fold themselves upwards to come crashing down on top of the enemy, trying to pin them against the ground which they would have done but for another quick Apparition.
Recognising the immediate threat, Yomazu sprang forwards with his sword held ready, about to unleash a huge barrage of slash attacks on the aged opponent. But Dumbledore saw it coming and threw a spell at him that Yomazu quickly blocked with his blade, only for the sword to turn into a vine which drooped in Yomazu's hand. The goat man looked momentarily stunned, long enough for Dumbledore to enchant the vine that had been his sword to try and entangle him, snaring at his limbs and pulling him down to the floor.
"DAMN YOU!" Yomazu growled, and swept his fingers up in another "ZAN!" that cut through the vine and allowed him to backpedal. "Everyone retreat! Our work here is done anyway!"
The Death Eaters were in full agreement - none of them wanted to fight Dumbledore, even with their newfound protective enchantments. He was proving in full force why their own master was so wary of him. Kawazu fired an egg round at Dumbledore to keep him distracted while Yomazu created another symbol with a shout of "ENMAKU!" which made it billow out a huge plume of smoke that whooshed across the square in seconds, obscuring the Death Eaters long enough for them to regather their wits and begin Disapparating, two of them popping up by Yomazu and Kawazu to whisk them away from the battle too.
But even as the retreat was in full swing, Lupin was trying to patch himself up with a couple of basic healing spells he knew, to at least staunch the bleeding a bit. But just as he was about to try getting to his feet, someone Apparated into existence next to him, Disarmed him and stamped on his chest! Hard!
"AAAHH!" Lupin cried as he was shoved to the ground by the heavy weight. But when he looked up and saw who it was that was looming above him, his pale face paled even further.
The wild, shaggy, unkempt appearance and the savage grin made him unmistakeable. It was Fenrir Greyback.
"Well, well… if it ain't little Remus Lupin," Greyback snarled as he ground his boot down upon Lupin's ribs. "I see my suspicions about you were well founded. Some of my my brethren have been talking about you - nosing around in people's business trying to learn more about what The Dark Lord's up to… I was beginning to wonder if you might be a spy. And here you are, palling around with Dumbledore and his posse… what do they call themselves… the Order of the Phoenix was it? Hah… fancy name, rather like Fairy Tail. Ain't no place for our kind in places with namby-pamby names like those, but I should have known you were in one."
Lupin grunted as his side continued to bleed. In his desire to gather information about such a powerful threat as Morgana it seemed he'd not been as subtle in his enquiries as he'd hoped… but even if he had been the fact that Greyback had just seen him fighting the Death Eaters had completely blown his cover.
"Yeah, you should have," he growled, his blood beginning to boil as it always did whenever he caught sight of the man who had given him the curse of lycanthropy, and his usual rational persona vanishing in favour of a more aggressive one. "I suppose that makes you rather thick for not realising it sooner, doesn't it?"
"How's Daddy?" Greyback sneered. "Still blaming himself for pissing me off enough to make his son into such a disgusting, foul, evil creature as a werewolf, right?"
"Our condition does not define us, but you most certainly are all of those things!"
"Oh, but it does define us. We are werewolves. As far as humanity is concerned, from the moment we receive the curse we're practically a different species. One filled with nothing by savagery and brutality, through and through. And you're still willing to help them over your own?"
"I'm willing to do what's right. And I'm most certainly not willing to join up with anything that you're associated with. You could have ruined my life! In many ways, you have! And the lives of everyone else you've bitten."
"Is that right?" Greyback leered, kneeling over to grasp Lupin by the front of his robes and smirk right in his face. "Well I'm gonna save it now."
"Save it?" Lupin coughed. "What does that mean?"
"It means, Little Lupin," Greyback suddenly hauled him up by the lapels in one hand. "That there's nothing that you or your friends can do to stop what's coming. And now that Muggles known about magic, our kind are gonna be more persecuted than ever before. So… if you're not willing to come to winning side willingly with the rest of your brethren, I guess I'll just have to make you do it by force!"
"Remus!" shouted a voice as the smoke from Yomazu's distraction began to clear and Tonks stumbled out of it in Lupin's direction. She only had a moment to gasp in horror when she saw Lupin being held up by Fenrir Greyback before the grizzled werewolf hurled Lupin to the ground and threw a Killing Curse straight for Tonks' face. Tonks only had enough time to dive aside and come to a rolling stop as Greyback seized the back of Lupin's robes and Disapparated… taking Lupin with him… and leaving his wand behind.
"No…" Tonks whispered in abject horror, dashing forward to the spot where they'd vanished and looking around wildly as if hoping that it was some sort of trick. "No… No no no NO! REMUS! REMMUUUUUUSSSS!"
But of course there would be no answer, and she knew it.
Remus was gone.