Chapter 34

Lee Jordan could tell something big was happening. Not just with everything that had happened so far today, but at this precise moment. It was like there was a shift in the atmosphere. He had felt it during the war when Voldemort had come out with his Death Eaters, announcing that Harry Potter was dead. And although the claim had proved to be false, it didn't make the situation feel any less differently in his mind.

So he followed it to the source; sensing a large amount of magic coming from the centre of the Ministry. It was like something was drawing him closer and closer, to the point where he couldn't help but follow it to figure out just what was happening.

He reported along the way, trying to pass on as much information to the outside world about what was happening here. If something were to happen to him, he did not want his death to be in vain. He wanted there to be a record for people who were not here to be able to look back to. If no one made it out of this alive, then at least the world would know what happened. And Lee Jordan would be damned if he could not at least find a way to let the country know just who was responsible for all of this. He would tell them exactly who had conspired to bring down their system of government in favour of chaos and dictatorship. And it would not stand.

As he heard a large 'boom' sound come through the halls, he moved discretely. There weren't as many of the members of his opposition left, so Lee figured that they had all gotten out. They must have been warned about it before hand, as the only other explanation would have been that they fled after giving up. Something which he definitely did not believe to be true.

"Something is happening," he spoke into his wand, "The Ministry has grown quiet, and while I wish I could say it meant that all of this has past, I know it not to be the case. Whatever has been happening over the past few months is finally coming to its climax. I cannot say which side seems victorious at the moment, but I pray for all our sakes that it is not this evil plague that has been tearing us apart that wins. But whatever happens, England, you need to keep fighting. If we let the Vetusta win here today, then the country as we know it will never be the same."

He moved through the abandoned hallways. Lee Jordan had come to the Ministry of Magic plenty of times throughout the years, but never once could he say that he had ever seen it as abandoned as it was now. It was like walking through a graveyard late at night, where you were left with nothing but the seeming presence of the dead around you.

And he hated it. The Ministry had always been associated in his mind as being so full of life and movement. There were always a billion different things happening, and if he ever just stood still and watched the busy witches and wizards pass by, he could lose himself into the sea of energy.

The only other place he had ever felt anything similar to that in the past was at Hogwarts, when school was in full swing. It was so easy to fall into it, and to see the Ministry so defeated broke his heart.

So he pushed forward, trying to follow the magic pulses to its source. He desperately prayed for this to be over. So many lives had already been lost, and he knew that more would be on the way.

He came closer to the source and once again raised his wand to his mouth, "I've tracked the pulse of energy," he spoke, "And I am just outside the room where it seems to be coming from. I am going to try and get closer, but I warn you, from here on out, all of this is completely live broad casted. There will be no short bursts of information coming through, filtered. So if there is anyone unsuited to be listening this, please ensure they are out of the room. I hope I see you on the other side of all of this."

He cast a quick spell to ensure his wand would continue broadcasting as he walked as close to the room as possible, with the help of a disillusionment charm.

Nothing could surprise him more than seeing Zacharias Smith standing there in the middle of the room, surrounded by the Golden Trio, and a handful of Slytherins. He cast a quick Muffliato over himself, so he would not be heard as he spoke, and immediately spoke the finding into his wand.

Hermione stared in shock at Zacharias Smith. He was standing in the centre of the room, wearing dark robes, and holding none other than the Staff of Merlin in his right hand, something which seemed to have been infused with is wand.

"You?" Draco asked, breaking her attention. She felt her breathing calm ever so slightly in relief, as she saw him standing there. After everything she had seen today, the last thing she needed was to see his dead body.

A large part of her wanted to run across the room and throw her arms around him. She wanted to press her lips against his and tell him just how much she loved him and how much she needed him. She wanted him to know just how strongly she felt about him.

But clearly here was not the time or the place for such things.

His face softened when he saw her, and she could tell that he felt a similar relief at the sight of her.

She was honestly such an idiot, for someone who had often been praised endlessly for her brains. Of course she would leave telling him how she felt about him until the very last minute.

"Surprised?" Smith asked with a sinister smile. "I bet none of you ever did think it could even be me, did you? All of you underestimated me at school, making it so easy to get here. Did you ever expect it to be a Hufflepuff standing here? I bet half of you thought it would be a Slytherin, didn't you?"

She could see Harry look down, looking slightly ashamed of himself. To be quite honest, house affiliations was one of the last things she had been considering when trying to figure out who was behind all of this.

And when Hermione all but told him that, Zacharias Smith burst out into dark laughter. "Of course you would look around that Granger. Always were so smart back in school, weren't you? Unfortunately, it seems that I outsmarted you this time, didn't I?"

She didn't say anything to that, and she knew he took that to be a confirmation.

"At least you will finally learn your place," Smith said, with a flick of his staff.

A shot of magic came towards her, and before she knew it, she felt an unbearable pain break out through her body. She fell to the ground as she let out a scream.

"Stop it!" Harry shouted out in frustration. "Why are you doing this, Smith? Is it because none of us ever paid you the proper attention back in school? Does that hurt your poor little feelings? Do you wish that we all worshiped the ground you walked on, and are now taking it out against us?"

"Not all of us have the need to be worshiped like you did, Potter," Smith snapped, glaring at her friend. As the pain stopped, she took a deep breath before standing back up. She fingered her wand closely to her. She knew it was unwise to attack him, despite his back being turned to hers, as he would very easily be able to overpower her. His magic was more powerful than any of theirs at the moment, due to the staff amplifying his own magic tremendously.

"Clearly," Theo Nott snorted. "Because creating your own group under the guise as wanting to change the government, when really all you want is a dictator ship definitely does not shout that you wish to be worshiped. Tell me, Smith. How did you come up with this ludicrous plan? Were you just lying about in bed one day, and went, 'Hey I really want to be the ruler of all of England'? Or was it something far more gradual than that?"

Zacharias Smith turned angrily to Theo, and Hermione could see the worry on Pansy's face. She knew how the woman felt; she was so worried that something would happen to Draco, or even Harry and Ron, or Blaise, and the other two Slytherins that she didn't know how she was managing to even stand there in once piece. Honestly, it was a bit of a miracle that she wasn't completely falling apart.

"Why?" Hermione asked softly, and she could feel the attention of the room turn back onto her. "Why are you doing this Zacharias? It can't simply be because none of us took Hufflepuff seriously in school. That is not a reason to start a war. And that is not a reason to kill innocent people. So why are you doing this? Clearly you don't actually care for any of the values that you spewed out to gain followers and support. So what is your actual motivation behind all of this?"

"What I want to know is how you lot always seemed to have a clear idea of what I was doing," Smith spat out, derailing the conversation. "How did you know that our group was rising up when I went through all the effort to keep it a secret? Everyone in our ranks took oaths similar to what you did in school with Dumbledore's Army, so none of them could have even revealed anything if they wanted to. How did you find out? You shouldn't have known until it was far too late to do anything."

Hermione's eyes widened as she remembered the letter she got in the mail from the girl who warned them. When she had the members of the DA sign that sheet of parchment, she had made the consequences severe, but not deathly. Smith on the other hand would not have hand any troubles using the jinx and changing the end result to be something far more fatal.

She made a mental note to check up on the young girl afterwards. She hoped that it wouldn't be too late to help her, and that she would not be yet another casualty of all of this.

"We had our sources," Hermione said, trying to sound nonchalant. The last thing she was planning on doing would be to tell him that it was their children who came back in time and informed them of the crisis. Especially if they did not get out of here alive today.

"Still a tight lipped bitch, I see," Smith sneered, "You always did think you were better than us in school, Granger. Running off with your gang of friends and getting into deep shit, yet always being rewarded for it. Do you think if anyone else but Harry Potter and his friends got into the same shit that they would have been rewarded anywhere near as much? The only reason you are who you are, and that you have any place in this society is because you chose your friends wisely. Which is far more than I could say for you, Malfoy."

Draco did not look impressed but simply crossed his arms, "I think I've done rather well for myself, Smith. But at the same time, I'm not an egotistical maniac who relies on a staff to gain control over the country because I'm not powerful enough on my own to achieve my goals."

"Crucio!" Zacharias Smith yelled out, clearly annoyed with Draco's on pointe assessment of him.

"Stop it!" Hermione yelled, taking a few steps forward. "Just tell us why you are doing this! It's not too late, Smith. We can all still walk out of this alive. Just put down the staff and we'll go."

Smith chuckled darkly, "Only one of us will be walking out of here alive, Granger, and it's going to be me. What, did you think you can try and convince the poor Hufflepuff who's probably confused into leaving? Everyone thinks our house is so weak and undetermined. That were not clever, brave, or ambitious. Yet here I am proving everyone wrong, ain't I? And once they know the truth of my origins, they'll understand it even more."

"Hepzibah Smith," Harry said, understanding dawning upon his face. "She claimed to be related to Hufflepuff; a direct descendant. Let me guess, you're related to her?"

"Give the boy a fucking medal," Smith clapped his hands. "Took you lot long enough to get there, didn't you. You see, the way this country works is that power gets you everywhere. It's about your family ties and how many connections you have. But it only works if your family, despite how old it may be, has worthy connections. Like how the Malfoys have their paws in every last pocket, or how the Dumbledores were and old and wise family. How the Potters had ties to Gryffindor and to the Ignotus Peverell. Being a pureblood does not matter if your ties aren't considered valid. None of that matters in this society. All that does is what famous people you're descended from, or how famous you yourself are. And I'm tired of that. So I decided, fuck it, I'm going to be my own famous person. I'm going to change history, and I'm going to become respected in this society. I'm going to rule the country, and slowly take over the rest. I want all of it, and I want the fame that comes with it."

"You're absolutely mad if you think that will even work," Blaise said, looking unimpressed. "Why would anyone respect you? Fear possibly, if even. But you cannot command respect from others. That's just not how the world works."

"It pains me that you still have yet to take me seriously," Smith sighed. "I suppose I'll just have to prove it to you. Avada Kedevra."

"No!" Hermione shouted. She watched the spell fly towards Draco, yet it did not hit him. It seemed to flow right past him, and upon impact, she watched in horror as the disillusionment charm on Lee Jordan came undone, and he fell dead to the floor. His wand was few feet away from his body."

"Expelliarmus!" Harry cried out, trying to turn Smith's distraction to his advantage.

"Did you really think that petty spell would work on me?" Smith laughed. "Potter, you have so much to learn. Hard to believe you're one of the top Aurors in the field. Remind me to change the curriculum of the Aurors if you make it out of this alive."

"Stupefy!" Hermione cried out. She could hear the others in the room casting spells as well, but Smith just deflected one after another. She could tell how bored he looked, as he barely even mumbled a spell. She stood there in frustration.

"Enough!" Smith yelled out. "No more of your petty spells. Confringo," he cast.

Except this explosion charm was far different than what she had seen before. Infused with the staff, the spell began to shoot up a dark blue streak of light into the air. She could feel the ground begin to shake slightly, as the ceiling began to crack.

"It's the wand!" Pansy shouted out towards the room. "If we take out his wand, then the staff is powerless on its own. Aim your spells at the wand. If we can break it, then we can get out of here in one piece."

She nodded towards the raven haired woman, and as she and every other person in the room raised their wands towards the staff, they all cast simultaneously, "Deletrius!"

Upon all their impacts on the staff, it took a few moments for anything to happen. They all held their wands up, as the spell caused the wand in the staff to snap. There was a ripple effect in the room, causing them all to fly back.

Smith on the other hand, simply chuckled, "You might have broken my wand, but it's too late. The spell has already been cast. The building is going to be destroyed."

Smith crawled over to try and grab Pansy's wand, but she kicked him away from it, stunning him.

"We need to get out of here!" Hermione shouted. She grabbed Blaise who was standing closest to her, and apparated out of the building.

When they landed on the other side, she felt herself breathing heavily. Her hair was an utter mess, and she had dirt all over her face. It took a few more seconds for Harry and Ron to join, and a few more for Theo and Pansy.

She looked up towards the building and sent out a quick prayer, begging for Draco to make it out of there and to meet her on the other side. Merlin, she hoped there was no one else who was still alive in there.

She watched as any remaining Aurors slowly apparated out of the building, joining her on the street in front of the Ministry of Magic. They all looked worn out and shaken up.

There was a loud cracking sound, and Hermione looked up in horror as the Ministry of Magic began to crumble in upon itself and fall into a large pile of rubble and dust. She felt her heart tighten up inside her chest, as panic rushed through her as she realized that Draco had not exited the building.

He was gone, and so was any chance she had of telling him her feelings for him.