A Tragic Second Year
When one individual panics in the spring of 1992, he triggers a cascade of changes to the events of Harry Potter's second year. The results are tragic for Magical Britain.
DISCLAIMER! This Harry Potter story was written for fun. All rights belong to the wonderful lady (JK Rowling) who gave the world Harry Potter to read and enjoy.
~~~*** Author's Note: Children are dying in the Middle East. The world has moments of great pain. I think that's where the darkness in this story originated.
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The Duels
Now there were three duels scheduled to be settled the Wizengamot chambers on 15 July beginning just after 9:00 PM. First, Lady Augusta Longbottom would duel Madam Dolores Umbridge. Then Auror Alastor Moody (retired) would face off against Bartemius Crouch, Sr. In the final duel, Mrs Molly Weasley would face Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore.
The Daily Prophet photographer sent a runner to retrieve more film for his camera. He expected to shoot a hundred photos this afternoon.
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Augusta Longbottom vs Dolores Umbridge
In the first duel, Lady Augusta Longbottom, Regent for House Longbottom faced Dolores Umbridge, (Former Senior Undersecretary for Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge but now unemployed(able) since Lord Ogden took the post of Minister for Magic and fired her.
The Aurors had to hold onto the arms of Dolores Umbridge and direct her to the duelling piste. Once there, the witch dissolved into tears and protests that there was misunderstanding. Albus Dumbledore attempted to speak in the poor woman's defence, but no one would listen to him.
"I'm innocent! Bones, stop this travesty or I'll tell everyone about the funds you steal from the treasury each year? The Aurors don't need armour!" screamed Dolores. "They don't need dragon hide armour!
Amelia Bones stared coldly at the witch and swore to challenge the witch to an honour duel herself if Augusta left anything alive.
As Lady Augusta Longbottom approached the duelling piste that had been set up by Flitwick, Umbridge observed the confident stride of her opponent and appeared to panic.
She repeated to the statements that caused Lady Longbottom to challenge her. "Your grandson is a squib! Killing me won't change that! Find a cousin to be Lord Longbottom…uh…let the healers end your son's suffering in Saint Mungo's."
Alastor Moody watched carefully and noticed that Umbridge already held her wand tightly in her hand. He murmured to Longbottom, "It's an act to make you angry. She's hoping to catch you off guard."
The witch nodded pleasantly as if Moody had merely mentioned the temperature in the chamber, and climbed the steps to the piste where she took her place on the opposite end of the platform.
Auror Rufus Scrimgeour had been selected as the Master of Ceremonies for the two – now three – duels before the first person gathered in the Wizengamot Chamber. He stood in the centre of the platform and recited the rules.
"Any spell is allowed except for the three Unforgivable curses. No aid was permitted for either witch during the contest until one participant is dead. If one of the participants attempts to leave the piste, the ward that surrounds the platform would kill the witch. If one participant throws down their wand and begs for mercy, the other participant is not required to allow them to live."
Rufus stepped down and the ward around the platform flickered as it was activated by one Auror. Scrimgeour said, "The contest begins on the count of three."
Augusta stared at her opponent who had grown quiet but allowed her anger to show on her face.
"One!"
The older witch stood sideways, her large signature hat with the stuffed buzzard on top of her head.
"Two!"
Umbridge couldn't decide which face to stare at – the stuffed buzzard or the steady witch. The first mistakes Dolores made were to insult Augusta Longbottom's incapacitated son and blossoming grandson. The last mistake she would ever make was to anticipate the count of three and attempt to throw the first spell.
Not believing Longbottom would have her shield up before the count of three, Dolores fired the first spell. However, she quickly discovered that Augusta kept a shield active around her whole body whenever she was in the Ministry for Magic – even before she became Chief Warlock. Too many witches and wizards attempted to cast charms or hexes on their fellow politicians at any time.
The large blue bombard spell travelled from the end of Dolores's wand to strike Augusta's shield. The force of the spell caused Augusta to take a step backward.
"Three!" called Scrimgeour, angry to see the toad had jumped the wand and fired a spell early.
Seeing her bombard spell hit Longbottom's shield, Dolores paused to see if the spell defeated the formidable witch and didn't follow up with more attacks to overwhelm the shield and strike at her opponent.
Augusta sneered and launched a set of spells – a piercing spell, a bombard, and parasite that would latch on Dolores's shield and drain away the magic. Then the second set of spells would finish off the witch. However, the piercing spell and bombard spells cracked and dissolved the shield that Umbridge cast. The parasite spell, considered to be a grey spell attached itself to Dolores herself and began eating the magic in the witch's magical core.
"What did you do to me?" screamed Dolores. "It burns!"
Augusta frowned, never anticipating that the spell would torture the woman. She raised her wand and cast the piercing spell once again, penetrating her opponents' right eye and blasting out the back of her head. Brain matter, bones and hair slid down the now visible ward that surround the piste.
Now, Rufus Scrimgeour as Master of Ceremonies approached the piste, with both hands empty and visible. In a loud voice, he declared, "The Ministry for Magic declares that Lady Augusta Longbottom is judged the victor in the honour duel in her dispute with Dolores Umbridge. Her claims that Umbridge is a liar are proved true by this contest of magic."
The photographer captured the key moments of the duel and wondered which would make the front page of the newspaper.
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Bartemius Crouch, Sr vs Alastor Moody
In the second honour duel, Head Auror Alastor Moody would face off against Bartemius Crouch, Sr. (Formerly DMLE Director 1970-1981) and then Secretary for the Department of International Magical Cooperation 1981-1993).
The Aurors escorted Bartimaeus Crouch to the piste after Umbridge's corpse (and brain matter) was hidden behind the platform under a charm to hide an object for an hour or more. The former head of the DMLE had not kept in shape or practiced competitive duelling against Aurors or others in the ten years since he lost his position. The suddenness of the challenge by Alastor Moody left the former Auror cursing his lack of practice.
'Moody should have been forced to retire after losing the leg,' Crouch mused. 'That's what I'll aim for – his peg leg. I keep my shields strong and put him on the floor by pulling out his peg. I can see him on the floor begging for his life now.'
Everyone in the chamber watched Head Auror Alastor Moody stomping across the floor toward the duelling piste Neither man taunted the other, but they did stare, attempting to intimidate their opponent.
Once again, Auror Rufus Scrimgeour stood in the centre of the platform and recited the rules.
"Any spell is allowed except for the three Unforgivable curses. No aid was permitted for either wizard during the contest until one participant is dead. If one of the participants attempts to leave the piste, the ward that surrounds the platform would kill the wizard. If one participant throws down their wand and begs for mercy, the other participant is not required to agree."
Rufus stepped down and the ward around the platform flickered as it was activated by one Auror. Staring for a moment at each contestant, Scrimgeour said, "The contest begins on the count of three. Not before!"
Crouch stared at Moody who stood facing his opponent without turning to the side – not the appropriate stance for a veteran of multiple duels.
"One!"
Moody's face twisted into the strange shape that he called a smile. Crouch noticed and his eyes narrowed slightly as he tried to determine the cause of the smile. The look on Moody's face would make a disturbing photograph the next day.
"Two!"
Shifting his legs apart, Barty threw up his shield and waited, a spell chain sizzling on his wand.
"Three!" called Scrimgeour.
The two wizards cast bombards at each other – both spells bounced off the shields and were absorbed by the ward that surrounded the piste. After two more spell exchanges that proved Crouch remembered his spells but didn't have the stamina of the older but better prepared Moody, Barty called as much of his magic as possible to cast Expelliarmus and summon Moody's peg leg.
There were shouts of surprise when the Head Auror was thrown backward to fall onto the floor as his peg leg flew away. But the wooden leg flew faster than anyone would have imagined, penetrated Crouch's shield, stabbed him in the gut and knocked him back onto the floor as well.
The audience watched Bartimaeus Crouch grasp the wooden stick in his gut with both hands, but he stopped trying to pull it out almost immediately – in a booby trap, Moody had added sharp spurs in the leg that sprang open to hold the 'leg' inside the opponent's body.
Moody crawled up on this one knee, conjured a cane and struggled to stand upright on one leg. From his location opposite his opponent, Alastor Moody announced, "Hey, Crouch! Here's some news for you! I've got your boy in a secure cell! Junior is prisoner here at the Ministry! He's been under the Imperious for eleven years! You've been casting an Unforgiveable on your own son for more than a decade!"
The injured wizard stopped moving, rolled onto one side and in weak voice asked, "What do you mean you've got my boy?"
"I captured Bartimaeus Crouch, Jr after he broke the Imperious spell yesterday. He was escaping when he ran into my stupefy and incarcerous spells. He'll get thrown through the veil tonight – escaped prisoners are always pushed through the veil!"
Defeated, Crouch lay back and welcomed the bludgeoning spell that smashed his head into pulp. The splash of brain matter against the ward did not get captured in a photograph.
Once again, Rufus Scrimgeour the Master of Ceremonies for the duels, approached the winner with both hands empty and visible. The Auror was surprised by Moody's announcement about the prisoner, but he would fulfil his role.
In a loud voice, Rufus declared, "The Ministry for Magic declares that Head Auror Alastor Moody is judged the victor in the honour duel in his dispute with Bartimaeus Crouch, Sr. Moody's claims that his opponent is a liar without honour are proved true by this contest of magic."
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Albus Dumbledore vs Molly Weasley
The third duel made many members of the audience uncomfortable – Mrs Molly Weasley had denounced Albus Dumbledore as a coward, liar, and child murderer. She declared that she would not be satisfied until the wizard lay dead at her feet. But how could a house witch hope to defeat the wizard who defeated the Grindelwald?
Once Crouch's body was stored beside Umbridge's corpse and every trace of blood had been banished, Scrimgeour summoned the duellers for the third contest that afternoon. The two participants held everyone's attention when they appeared on the floor. The camera flashed only twice – one photo of each of the participants was enough.
The disgraced Albus Percival Not-Wulfric Nor-Brian Dumbledore might be a coward, but no one doubted he was a powerful wizard – one of the most powerful wizards in the history of Britain.
His opponent was a house witch who cleaned the home, washed dirty socks, cooked meals and mended clothing every day. Arthur Weasley understood the situation was out of his control so he steeled himself and told his wife he loved and would always love her.
Molly smiled and replied, "I know, Arthur. I love you too."
Albus Dumbledore walked solemnly from the seat where he'd watched Dolores Umbridge and Bartimaeus Crouch die under the wands of their opponents. The wand in his hand wasn't the Elder Wand but he was a formidable wizard even without the powerful wand.
'I won't die today,' he swore. 'I must survive to save Magical Britain when Tom returns. But how do I allow Molly to live?'
Mrs Weasley strode toward the piste much like any witch with a list of chores to complete before her family gathered at the table for supper.
No one in the chamber had a clue what would happen in the next five minutes; except for the house witch and possibly a half-goblin who excelled at arithmancy conversions of strange hexes into charms.
Once again, Auror Rufus Scrimgeour stood in the centre of the platform and recited the rules.
"Any spell is allowed except for the three Unforgivable curses. No aid was permitted for either contestant during the contest until one participant is dead. If the witch or wizard attempts to leave the piste, the ward that surrounds the platform would kill them. If one participant throws down their wand and begs mercy, the other participant may grant it or not."
Rufus stepped down and the ward around the platform flickered as it was activated. Staring for a moment at each contestant, Scrimgeour said, "The contest begins on the count of three."
Albus attempted to stand still without betraying any nervousness – his brain refused to accept the possibility that Molly land a spell on his person.
"One!" called out Rufus.
Molly blinked and knowing Dumbledore's ability to read minds, she kept her mind focused on the spells to knit a jumper with the fancy stitches around the neck.
"Two!"
Dumbledore decided to spare the witch after he put her on the ground and broke her legs.
'No, her arms. She can't cast spells if her arms are broken – after I take her wand. And it will prove my kindness to allow her to live.'
"Three!" called Scrimgeour.
Dumbledore threw a weak bombard spell, hoping to overwhelm any shield and throw Molly on the floor. He'd break her arms and end the duel.
But the house witch had a more formidable shield than Dumbledore expected. After shifting her wand to her left hand, Molly cast a strong piercing spell that prompted Albus to raise his strongest shield against attack spells. He sighed as he cast Expelliarmus to pull away Molly's wand.
The witch saw the expected spell approach and allowed her wand in her left hand to fly toward her opponent. At the same time, Molly pulled her trusted wooden spoon from the belt around her robes and flung a special charm she'd practiced with the twins for the last two weeks. From his vantage point, Filius Flitwick watched carefully to see how well his calculations worked.
'But what will she do once he's a chicken?' he wondered.
The bright pink light flowed from the bowl of Molly's spoon, crossed the platform, ignored the shields cast by the former headmaster and grabbed the man.
Albus had no time to register surprise when he was instantly transformed into a six-foot-tall rooster. Among the audience, there were startled laughs and chuckles to see Dumbledore turned into an old bird. But when the rooster scratched at the floor, flapped its wings and then crowed, the chuckles grew into raucous laughter.
'What happened to me?' Dumbledore wondered. He kept turning his head around because his brain couldn't reconcile the double vision with his eyes pointing in different directions.
'Merlin! Did I just crow? I need to crow again!'
Arthur wanted to cheer for his wife but knew the charm wore off after three minutes. He hoped she had a plan.
As soon as the crow ended, Molly's wooden spoon threw another charm – a reliable house witch's spell to slaughter and clean a fresh chicken when a wife prepared a meal for her family.
Grabbed by the charm, Rooster Dumbledore squawked once before it hung upside down with its neck broken. Magic slit the bird's throat, drained out the blood, plucked the feathers, and left them piled them up away from the carcass.
This ended laughter in the stadium abruptly.
Then the charm gutted the bird and removed all the internal organs. The offal was piled up away from the feathers. Several members of the audience turned away when they saw the bird's intestines, liver, lungs and heart steaming in the cooler air of the Wizengamot Chamber. There was no blood anywhere.
The audience stared in silence as the plucked and gutted chicken rotated above the place where Albus Dumbledore stood when the duel began.
Suddenly the chicken morphed back into the form of Albus Dumbledore – the wizard's bald body continued to rotate and everyone in the chamber saw the nude man was missing his beard and every organ in his torso. The beard and long hair lay with the man's robes.
With a casual wave of her spoon, Molly lowered the body to the floor where it lay without twitching or moving. No one moved or spoke. And everyone heard Molly Weasley say, "You were a liar, child killer, and coward. Now you've been plucked and gutted like a rooster who crows too much."
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The Corpse of Dumbledore
The chamber remained silent for several moments following Mrs Weasley's victory over Albus Dumbledore. The witch pursed her lips and said, "Now, I mustn't leave a mess in the kitchen."
With a casual wave of the wooden spoon, a natural magical focus for the house witch, the dead wizard's intestines, stomach and other organs vanished into the ether. With a second wave of her spoon, the 'feathers' that had returned to the wizard's signature outrageously coloured robes, shoes, wand, long hair and beard, were also banished. The body lay on the floor visible for everyone to see.
'Where's the blood,' wondered more than one person. 'Did the kitchen charm she used to gut the rooster bleed him out? Mrs Weasley is formidable kitchen witch.'
Rufus Scrimgeour, Head Auror and today's Master of Ceremonies, approached the winner with both hands empty and visible.
In a loud voice, he declared, "The Ministry for Magic declares that Mrs Molly Weasley is judged the victor in the honour duel in her dispute with Albus Percival Not-Wulfric Nor-Brian Dumbledore. Her claims that he is a coward, liar, and child murderer are proved true by this contest of magic."
"All corpses will be sent through the Veil in the Department of Mysteries in the next fifteen minutes."
Conversations began again among the members of the Wizengamot and the audience. After a moment, Lady Longbottom rose from the Chief Warlock's throne. With many persons watching, the formidable woman clapped her hands, prompting others to rise and clap to recognize the witch's victory.
For three minutes, the Wizengamot and the spectators applauded Molly Weasley's victory over the despicable and disgraced Dumbledore.
Hearing the thunderous applause and even a few whistles, Mrs Weasley lowered her head as new tears flowed down her cheeks, thinking about her lost children – all 300 dead children. Then she was embraced tightly by her husband and felt safe once again.
Alastor Moody approached and bowed to the witch, offered Molly the wand of her opponent as a token of her victory. The wand disappeared into Arthur's robes until it was permanently mounted as a trophy over the fireplace in their home. The wand would serve as a warning to any wizard who doubted the Weasley family's strength and magic.
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