A Hard Day At The Office
D-Day
They silently sailed over the channel under the strictest of camouflages. If by any chance a muggle saw what was flying above, they would either have an instant heart attack or an admittance to an insane asylum. A battalion of English witches and wizards recruited and trained over a six-month flew overhead on brooms, flying carpets, horses, and levitating furniture. Yet despite the bizarre sight, there was a method to the madness. The vanguard forces flew ahead of them by a day and a half.
The vanguard was comprised of ward and curse breakers, scouts, and allegedly unspeakables who would secure a beachhead for them. Grindelwald's forces had enacted significant wards to defend against the invasion. The entire surprise of the attack depended on them crashing onto the shores before Grindelwald could strike back hard with significant reinforcements. If wards fell too quick and the invasion force was still miles away, the vanguard would be slaughtered with no reinforcement. If the wards fell too late, the invasion force would be entrapped and flayed alive by the macabre wards. Timing was the key here.
The troops shuddered at the coldness of their altitude. Strict orders had been conveyed to them not to use charms of any kind – especially the heating ones to prevent advanced detection by the enemy forces.
Thomas, newly minted auror, tightened the cloak around his brand-new armor, courtesy of innovation by a new company he had heard only rumors about. He grumbled and counted his lucky stars, at least being outfitted properly. His Ukrainian cousins fighting in the Soviet Army had desperately written to his mother about not having enough rations, potions, and equipment on the frontlines and to send them all they could spare. He squinted as he saw spotted land in the distance and sent a thankful prayer to all the Gods of magic he knew. He could barely feel the thumbs on his hands due to the cold. Soon, it would all be over.
Vanguard Forces
Sirius grinned in bloody-faced excitement as the Kraut whirled around stupidly trying to find his wand but was rewarded by a Black family home-made special, electrifying spell. The sheer volume of currents flowing through him cooked the Kraut in less than 4 seconds. Henri cast a disappointed glance towards him, but Sirius didn't care. There were no conventions or regulations restraining the use of magic in times of war. Active battlefields were not family squabbles between bored hormonal heirs in the streets of Eldermoor.
It was time to introduce these bloody invaders to the full might of the Black family grimoire. Clearly, Henri was not onboard the program but Lord Black could care less at the moment. Sirius lazily waved his wand and Henri dodged a lazily fired reductor which smashed and broke a scrying mirror that the Kraut was using to monitor the front.
"Come now, Henri now's not the time for your usual Potter sullenness." Sirius grinned and Henri merely shook his head, crouched, and gestured for Sirius to take the left while he took the right. Sirius nodded and took the left side of the complex, his part of the vanguard team followed beside him. At Sirius's signal, they halted as he felt a wave of magic challenge his identity. One of the members immediately engaged the wards as she tried to delay the signal. The rest of the team leaped into action and positioned themselves along a large metal door. The sound of utensils clinking, and general chatter was heard from the opposite side.
"The bastards are enjoying breakfast, eh?" Sirius chuckled. "Let's give them all a proper British good morning."
At his words, a wizard nodded wordlessly and splashed a potion on the door that caused it to vanish. The German forces were too preoccupied with each other to notice a massive door missing. The Vanguard team leveled their wands and fired off curses. The enemy didn't even have a chance to scream as their bodies simply exploded or turned against themselves. The team took a moment to take in the slaughter. Their pondering was cut short as a shrill whistling voice went off.
"I'm sorry Lord Black!" The witch shouted. "I just lost focus for a moment by the light show while you boys were firing the curses."
"Amateurs." Sirius snorted and marched back to meet up with Henry Potter as his team ventured inside the room to cripple all monitoring charms and devices. Soon the invasion force would land and by the time Grindelwald rushed forward to counter, he would be too late. Sirius whistled merrily as he walked forward, they would put this German nonsense to bed in 3 months.
He spotted Henri with his wand pointed to the sky pulsing out magical waves in infrequent sequences to signal the invasion force. They would soon be able to form a beachhead.
"We finally did it. In 3 months', time we will be encircling Berlin itself." Sirius exclaimed as he eagerly clapped Henri's back. Henri still maintained his earlier frown and Sirius rolled his eyes in annoyance.
"Fine, what is it now?" Sirius asked.
"Edward hasn't reported back. He was supposed to liaison with the French underground and report back to us." Henri said.
"Probably got too busy dipping into some Veela," Sirius muttered and Henri shook his head.
"Sirius, something is wrong here. Something is really really wrong here." Henri said.
"All of this" Henri waved his hand around, "Was too easy. There were too few guards. This is a major crossing. There should have been a lot more men, beasts, and wards here for us to combat. It's almost like Grindelwald is inviting us in by leaving the gates open."
Sirius immediately put a bottle on his blood lust as his reptilian side took over. He began to analyze the situation and couldn't help but come to the same conclusion. He gazed towards the sky where the British aurors were now clearly visible as they discarded their camouflage. The first of the units began landing on the beach much to the cheers of the Vanguard forces.
The few Kraut guards posts present on the beach yelled in horror as they saw the mass of wizards approaching and opening fire toward the sky. However, they were met in turn by a coordinated volley of fire and thunder that pounded the fortified positions. Cement, wood, and stone went flying in all directions as the English descended on them from above. The more agile of the mages on broom broke ranks and flew quickly upon the trenches, pouring acidic green potions on the fighters below. A few slave trolls of Grindelwald's army rushed to fight the invaders but were crippled by well-disciplined diffindos to their eyes, groin, and back of the knees.
Sirius watched in grim satisfaction as his people made short of the defenders. So much for Dumbledore saying they were untrained.
He turned towards Henri, "You lads can take it up from here, I will take the vanguard forces deeper into the country to see what's happening. With luck, we will establish communication with Edward."
Henri nodded solemnly, "Stay safe, friend."
Sirius shook his head and then proceeded deeper into the country.
A New Age of Modern Warfare
Kendra Dumbledore grinned as the shattered and weeping form of the once haughty Edward Greengrass stuttered a last few secrets and was promptly executed by his throat ripped apart by inferii. All was going according to plan as the British landed on their shores totally unaware of the sheer extinction event that was about to greet them in less than 40 minutes. With a savage grin, she pulled out a ritual rod of darkened metals out of Edward's skull. The man's blood activated all the rune engravings on it.
A wizard wheeled out the catatonic form of Arianna Dumbledore outside. He was accompanied by Grindelwald's Black Hand. Gellert was not leaving no stone unturned for this operation. Either they all came back victorious or they would be reduced to ashes and thrown into dung by the Dark Lord. One of the acolytes gently whispered imperio to place Arian under control as Kendra viciously stabbed her in the neck with the rod. Ariana gasped in pain, her first real response since being bought out from captivity. However, before she could do something rash, the Acolyte exerted full control over her mind. He placed the bracelet portkey on her wrist and with a pop she disappeared.
Back on the beaches, Thomas's platoon sergeant roared at him to take cover as they advanced deeper into the Kraut fortification. The enemy was hilariously caught off guard by their land and air power. He stood firm and grinned as two wicked colored spells raced towards him. Suddenly two shields materialized in front of him as his squamates worked on counter-curses. The Krauts were so stunned by the sudden shields that they never noticed a fireball that enveloped them all and instantly reduced them to ash. A weeping girl walked past them without any care for the battle. She was extremely malnourished and pale as a ghost.
"Merlin damn you, Thomas! Pay attention!" His squad leader roared but Thomas was too busy with the girl who was walking amidst the thick of British troops. The hair stood on his neck as he suddenly felt afraid. Terror gripped him as if Dementors had suddenly materialized in front of him. His squad leader yelled again but he ignored him. The din of the battle too was getting fainter as if everyone realized something bad was about to happen. One of the aurors even vomited and several others fell as if they had seizures. The girl's eyes suddenly rolled to the back as the Imperious wore off her. The object on the side of her neck glowed red and she screamed. She screamed louder than any banshee or dragon. Thomas felt needles drilling into his skull as psychic lashes tore apart his mind. He began to see visions of memories that he had never lived through. Several mages around him fell on their knees clawing out their eyes and throats.
Oi Girl! That's a funny trick. Do it again!
N-no please leave me alone.
Worthless girl, a squib is more useful than you!
You are a disgrace to our name.
This will hurt quite a lot, feel free to scream.
The girls' screams got louder and louder. She started emitting powerful uncontrolled magic that levitated her far from the ground. The last thing Thomas ever saw in his life was a sickly green mushroom cloud that instantly liquified him and enveloped the entirety of the battlefield. In an instant, the entirety of the British army was wiped away by the sheer magnitude of the blast wave. Those far away were melted or frozen by the erratic nature of the strange phenomenon. Those very far away would describe it as a sickly green mushroom cloud that stood around 31,000 feet tall.
None of the forces would return back to their homes.
Many many miles away, "Henri Potter" and Kendra Dumbledore watched in amusement as their plan went off without a witch. The mushroom cloud was still visible from their current destination. The disguise melted away to reveal Julius Giovanni who embraced Kendra in a passionate kiss.
"One step closer to our ultimate goal," Kendra whispered and Julius replied similarly.
"One step closer," Julius said.
Foolish Dumbledore & Potter thought that his Phoenix trick would go unnoticed. They underestimated the sheer number of spies that Grindelwald had everywhere. Spies who frequented Dumbledore's inner circle. His phoenix was negated long before Dumbledore even thought of utilizing it in open battle. Henri Potter was captured, tortured, and then summarily executed. Soon his body would be thrown outside House Potter's property as a warning to the Potter lordling.
Ministry of Magic – Eldermoor.
There was chaos at the ministry. People ran around like headless chickens in panic. The news of Albus Dumbledore's death by Grindelwald's hand had nearly sent his government into dissolution. But, this might bring an end to the state right away. Not even the Queen had been informed of what had just happened. The ministry was leaking like a sieve and people in the Daily Prophet had already given him one hour to comment before they sent forth an emergency copy of the news. Minister Riverwood wiped away tears from his eyes as he held his head. In the twenty he had to address the wizengamot. He wasn't sure he was feeling up to the mark. It felt like he had aged an entire decade in the few months he had occupied the post.
The political battles between the muggle-born activists & purebloods seemed like a lifetime ago. So petty. So futile. Aiming for the trees while ignoring the entire forest. When he went to tea an hour ago, every single one of his advisors had told him how smoothly the landings on the French front proceeded and how in a mere 3 months they would surround Berlin itself and bring Grindelwald to justice. All that seemed like a dream. 3,000 of his recruited trained armed forces had died in an instant. Neither the unspeakable nor anyone in Hogwarts had an idea what foul sorcery Grindelwald had employed. Fear set in him for the first time in a long while. Britain's shores were now largely undefended.
Adam blinked as his inner monologue was broken by the roaring crowds. He blinked rapidly as he took in his surroundings.
How the hell did I get here? Adam wondered as he stood at the speaker's podium while angry legislators shouted at him and brawled amongst themselves.
"Ladies and gentlemen," he began, but his words were drowned out by angry shouts. The Chief warlock helplessly fired off shots, but nothing came to fruition. Gloria Bones stood up and gestured to her personal bodyguards to remove the most annoying of troublemakers.
Finally, the room quieted enough for Riverwood to continue. "The French invasion has been a disaster," he declared, his voice barely audible over choked sobs. "Around 3,000 of our finest witches and wizards have been martyred. Our shores are undefended, and Grindelwald will likely strike back soon."
"It is with a heavy heart that I say we must prepare for the eventuality when Grindelwald lands on these shores. We must take measures that might seem troublesome in the short term but are necessary for the survival of our democracy itself." Riverwood said and the crowd booed him. "We must overcome our crippling manpower shortages. We have no choice. We must institute a draft with no exemptions. Hogwarts will also be subjected to mandatory conscriptions, regardless of blood status or nobility."
The attendees' fury reached a boiling point, but Riverwood knew the worst was yet to come. As he surveyed the angry faces, a voice rang out, "Avada Kedavra!"
Darkness enveloped him, and the world went black.
Fin
Author Notes: I hope this satisfies some people's concerns about the pacing issues as we now kick the story in the high gear. We will be spending a bit more time in the Hogwarts before our young innocent eyed companions are tossed in the furnace of war. Please please review. Reviews are my lifeblood that motivate me to continue writing. Please review. lol.