CHAPTER 11 - Motitus, In D Major (Act 3)
9:10PM
A pained groan signaled Jim Potter's slow return to consciousness.
Gritting his teeth amidst the pounding in his head he painstakingly pulled himself upwards, emerald eyes widening at the horrific sight before him.
It was sheer unbridled chaos; panicked and screaming civilians attempting to flee every which way, the occasional flash of spellfire, and a rhythmic thud-thud-thud that sounded like hooves in the distance. Orange flames illuminated the lurid sight of the dead, lying in mangled piles amidst the debris resulting from the explosion that knocked him out cold.
His eyes soon zoned in on Molly's Magical Morsels stand some feet away, nothing more than flaming wreckage with neither Molly nor Charlie in sight. A rush of bile filled Jim's mouth as his horror compounded, praying to Merlin that the worst hadn't happened to his would-be second family. His horror compounded as he noticed the partially ruined DMLE tent some distance away, large parts of it still smoldering as steady flashes of deadly spellfire indicated the Aurors in a faceoff with attacking Death Eaters.
Topping the devastation off was the strange ghostly white glow emanating from the sky, drawing the Gryffindor's attention to the skeletal spectral white wolf with milky eyes and maw open wide as though howling.
Shuddering past the Dark Mark's horrifying psychic sensation of scratching against his mind, Heir Potter registered the sharp shooting pains emanating from his oddly-bent left leg, realizing that it was broken. His right wrist felt funny, and he was fairly sure his skin was missing from his left cheek at the familiar burning sensation. He was covered in all manner of dirt and debris, and he could taste a layer of ash coating his tongue.
Grunting as the pain increased, Jim mentally repeated all the calming mantras he knew, allowing all the screaming to fade to a dull roar as he unholstered his wand to apply first aid.
"BRACKIUM EMENDO. FERULA."
He winced at the sharp snap of his femur returning to its original position, sighing in mild relief as bandages wrapped around his leg. He repeated the same to his wrist, before a whispered Parsel-enhanced Episkey soothed the burning sensation on his cheek.
Emerald eyes suddenly widened as he realized he hadn't been alone when the explosion occurred, looking frantically around.
"HARRY!"
His younger twin was lying a few feet away amidst the wreckage of the ruined Dissimulator Inc. stand, its large and currently broken sign strewn haphazardly over the boy. Both legs were bent at awkward angles, and his right arm also looked broken. Several gashes covered his face, and he looked uncommonly pale despite the thick layer of dirt covering the visible parts of his skin.
Screaming his brother's name again, Jim bumrushed through a screaming group of frenzied spectators to race to his brother's side, eyes widening in horror at the pool of blood gathered around Harry's head.
"Oh no-no-no-no-no!"
Taking a deep meditative breath to soothe his rising panic, Heir Potter applied first aid as best as he could.
Brackium Emendos and Ferulas sorted the broken bones, before softly hissed Episkeys cleared the cuts. Scowling at the gash on his brother's head, Jim focused a bit more of his power before hissing "CUTISsSsS EMENDO!"
Ash lightly vibrated from the spell as the broken skin effortlessly knit itself back together, stopping the bleed almost immediately.
"RENNERVATE!"
Eldritch green eyes flashed open, widening as they connected with the identical pair of his twin.
"Thank Merlin!" Jim pulled his brother up, who clutched his arm as he straightened into sitting.
"Thanks Jim," Harry replied gratefully, clapping a warm arm on the boy's shoulder. He surveyed the devastation of his surroundings with a look of poignant horror that almost immediately shifted into a perfectly blank expression, indicative of him heavily occluding. The Slytherin's gaze snapped to the Dark Mark above, mouth thinning into a hard line as he realized the World Cup was under a Death Eater siege. He didn't bother reaching for his emergency Portkey, knowing it wouldn't work.
Lord Wilkes' eyes suddenly widened and he unholstered his wand, muttering "POINT ME HERMIONE GRANGER."
Holly spun for a few seconds before pointing due west in the direction of the forest surrounding the campsite proper. Harry repeated the spell twice more for Theo and Neville, revealing them to be in the same direction. He sagged infinitesimally, hoping against all hope that they were safe and hidden away from all the havoc.
Mimicking his brother, Jim's Point Me spells for Molly and Charlie revealed them to be in the northwest direction, some distance away from Hermione, Theo, and Neville.
"We'll check on the Weasleys first, then we'll circle back to the others." Harry's quiet yet steady voice sounded in his ear. Jim nodded once, pleased that his brother wasn't going to force him to choose.
Fishing in his cloak's inner pocket, the Slytherin retrieved a small mokeskin satchel from which he retrieved phials of Pepper-Up, liquid Murtlap Essence, and Blood-Replenisher, giving his twin exactly one of each as he knocked back his own in quick succession. The dull lingering ache faded, allowing Harry to divert the bit of his Occlumency for pain suppression into focusing on the tremendous task at hand.
With a small smile Heir Potter repeated Lord Wilkes' actions, eyes widening at seeing the phials refill and self-plug.
"Keep them." Harry's tone was firm as he gestured towards the phials. Not bothering to argue, Jim tucked them into his inner robes pocket.
As quickly as he was able Harry pulled out his miniaturized Firebolt dangling from an Unbreakable chain, casting specialized expansion charm and immediately mounting the broom. Making sure his brother securely held on to him, Prince Potter kicked off in the direction of the forest.
In the B.M.W. Tent…
Planted protectively in front of her charges, Lady Greengrass watched with slightly widened eyes as Seneschal Evans faced off against a duo of Death Eaters in rapid spellfire exchange.
Crucio and Avada Kedavra had already been used thrice over, and it was through a series of evasive tactical moves and defensive magic Lily had been able to successfully counter. Winifred was amazed by the witch's speed , not really sure what kind of magic enabled her to move the way she did.
The very moment proceeding the first round of explosions triggered the redhead's immediate reaction, corralling them onto the makeshift stage as she commanded them to cast as many protective magicks as they knew on the tent proper to prevent their sanctuary from being breached.
In that moment Winnie had been startled to see the surprisingly intense blankness emanating from Lily, believing the older witch to be heavily Occluding.
In a manner of speaking she was, though Lady Greengrass had no way of knowing that Bradamante was currently in control as she cast a series of spells the younger Consiliarius Emeritus couldn't identify under the cover of the Knight's standard Labias Obscuras spell. Lily then instructed Winnie to cast every protective spell she knew against the canvas material of the tent fabric to prevent a breach or damage.
Lady Greengrass did exactly as the older witch commanded, surprised to see Astoria taking charge in doing the same as Eurus followed her lead. Luna, Daphne, and Tracey busied themselves with spelling every free-standing object in the tent into makeshift steel trenches they could hunker behind.
Just as Lily made to spell the tent's entrance shut they were besieged by four Death Eaters donning porcelain masks similar to that of Mr. Tyrfing, casting deadly spells at the witches.
One was immediately felled by a salvo of Parsel-enhanced Bonebreakers courtesy of Bradamante, fracturing every major bone in his body as he was violently flung into a corner, completely unconscious.
That gave the remaining three pause, allowing the Knight to levy "MACTASsSESsS!" followed by a Banisher at another Death Eater, breaking his ribs and ejecting him back out of the tent's opening.
Her fellow Slytherins could only gape in collective awe at the display, their astonishment compounding as the redhead immediately engaged the other two without pausing to take a beat.
The melee continued on for a few minutes, before one sensed a different kind of opening.
Disengaging from the Knight he bellowed "PERFODIO! CONFRIGO HORRIBILIS!", aiming his wand downward.
Right in the direction of Daphne and Tracey.
The effect was instantaneous; the Carving Spell created a massive groove that allowed the modified Blasting Curse to race towards the two witchlings. Tracey and Daphne snapped up a Protego on instinct but it wasn't enough as their section of the trenches was blown apart, the concussive force and subsequent debris flinging them into the fortified wall and knocking them unconscious.
"NOOOOOO!"
Winnie's scream was guttural with raw maternal panic, abandoning her post to race towards the girls as Eurus and Luna goggled in matching horror.
Tori only saw red.
"SECTUMSEMPRA!" she bellowed, gesturing her ebony wand like a broadsword just as the Ginny Weasley of the extinct timeline taught her.
Deep bloody gashes bloomed all over the dark wizard's body as he howled in brutal agony, before a cry of "DEPULSO!" rocketed him out of the tent's opening. Eyes still wild, Tori raced to her fallen sisters to help her mother (who'd momentarily frozen upon witnessing her youngest's spell) apply first aid.
The remaining dark wizard gawked at the spell's grisly effects on his partner, before Bradamante's Lacero reengaged his attention. Realizing that he was losing an unwinnable battle, he threw down three objects before racing out of the tent in a billow of smoke.
Bradamante's eyes narrowed at the sight of three acid green rubber ducks, recognizing Mr. Toymaker's signature. Her eyes slightly widened in recognition of the unique set of Parselrunes inscribed on the exposed belly of one of the plastic toys.
"All of you get behind me, NOW!"
Luna and Eurus each grabbed the arm of a recovered Tracey and moved to stand behind the redhead. Tori and Winnie gingerly did the same for Daphne, gathering as close as possible.
It was excellent timing, as the ducks' eyes all suddenly started to glow eldritch green as their expressions warped to become noticeably clown-like and uniquely feral.
Resuming her dilation, Bradamante slashed her wand at the tent's ceiling whilst incanting Diffindo , creating a hole large enough to fit their group.
The ducks started glowing …
"AEGISsS AERISsS ORBISsS!"
An almost-solid orb of air surrounded their group, eyes widening at the unknown spell's effects.
"ASsSCcCENDIO!"
The upward force of the Parsel-enhanced spell combined with the surrounding explosive force from the duck-bombs caused the orb shield to shoot up and out like a cannonball. Using her wand to pilot the orb towards relative safety, Bradamante registered the screams of her cargo amidst the louder volume of screaming spectators below, lips thinning at the sight of excessive destruction that greeted her.
Their orb was about 20 feet from landing before it was clipped and subsequently shattered by a wayward Expulso.
"ARRESsSTO MOMENTUM!"
Their sharp descent slowed significantly, allowing them all to land in a small clearing near the burning wreckage of a tent with a flag that vaguely resembled the crest of House Smith.
The second her feet touched solid ground the Knight snapped up at the ready, aimed in the direction of the wayward spell's direction. She paused at the sight before her:
Mr. Tyrfing was engaged in a rather fierce one-on-one battle with a blonde witch that looked vaguely familiar to Bradamante, before Lily's memories supplied her with the name 'Yvette Dubois' - former secretary of the traitorous Obediah.
Of course, she had no way of knowing it was actually the polyjuiced form of deep-cover Chevalier Villanelle Beauchamp.
Bradamante was surprised at Dubois' skill and technique; she moved with utmost precision and was quite agile, physically ducking and dodging whilst retaliating with equally lethal magicks of her own, almost all nonverbal. Bonebreakers, Bludgeoners, and Cutters interspersed with Stingers and the occasional Stunner.
She was quite skilled, but Tyrfing's ability was greater.
Aspen blurred in nonverbal Locomotor Wibbly, Brackium Confractus, Incarcerous, and Exviscera.
The four spells sailed into the witch with utmost precision, falling as her wand arm broke and barbed ropes wrapped themselves tightly around her form. Her eyes widened as she expected to be gored by the Entrail-Expelling Curse…
…Only to startle in further shock as a Parsel-enhanced Aegis intercepted the spell, redirecting the attention of the two combatants to the redhead.
Tyrfing snarled at the interruption, the Lance of the Dark Lord released a salvo of identical spells against the newcomer…
…Only to blink rapidly in surprise at the speed in which they were deflected and blocked.
Recognizing the boon of a worthwhile opponent, Tyrfing immediately set out to engage her.
Ensuring Winnie had the girls well in hand, Bradamante moved towards the Death Eater. About 15-feet away from the Death Eater she paused and unleashed Protego Diabolica, waving her wand in a graceful arc to allow the blue-black flames to encircle the pair.
Tyrfing paused; the nature of the Dark Fire Shield Charm was to incinerate any enemy of its caster. Were he to venture too close the flames would not hesitate to render him to screaming ash.
The Death Eater brandished his wand and sword menacingly. His opponent paused before summoning a wayward tent stake, transfiguring it into a basket-hilted mortuary sword that glowed as though forged of moonsilver. She snatched it midair as she assumed longstance with spada a un mano, wand equally at the ready.
"So…you've chosen to relinquish your life," stated Tyrfing ominously.
Bradamante blinked. "You never die twice."
9:28PM
The view was even worse from above.
Jim audibly choked as he surveyed the devastation; massive fires burning everywhere, wreckage of ruined tents, broken remains of corpses (too many of which looked to be children ), frantic people screaming as they tried to rush to the forest for safety, and the deadly unrelenting spells of the Death Eaters.
Even more disturbing was the presence of animated Wizard Chess knights cantering around, about a dozen 10-foot-tall abominations of Mr. Toymaker goring or decapitating innocent civilians to their glee. They looked to be made of gold, but closer inspection with aid of his glasses let Harry know that they were made completely of orichalchum.
And thus would be impervious to most spells.
"Sweet Hecate above … We need to do something!"
Harry could only sigh. "We can't possibly take on the Death Eaters and those abominations at the same time, there's simply too many of them. The best thing we can do is find everyone else and get whatever Aurors we can to get that… thing out of the sky so we can all actually leave."
"But they're killing -"
"I'm aware, Jim." His brother's tone was firm yet surprisingly gentle. "But if we venture down there, they'll end up killing us too and all will be for naught. I know it's hard, trust me I do. But we can't risk it right now."
Heir Potter once more made to interject, before jerking in alarm as a wayward Reducto ruffled right past them.
Except it wasn't a wayward spell but deliberately launched at them by one of Mr. Tyrfing's raiders, who sped directly towards them on a broom.
'SSSHITE!' "Hold on Jim!" Jerking the broom's handle upward as hard as he could, Harry maneuvered the Firebolt upward to evade the flurry of spellfire cast at them from the rapidly encroaching Death Eater. A sense of déjà-vu filled Lord Wilkes as he recalled that fateful night he and Tori (polyjuiced as Amy Wilkes) raced from a murderous pack of werewolves on his Firebolt.
Like Tori, Jim was not idle.
"SsSERPENSsSORTIA! DEPULSsSO!"
An almost 15-foot-long cobra sprung Jim's wand directly towards their assailant, hissing up a pissed-off storm.
The Death Eater flinched in alarm, before a few sharp slashes of Diffindo severed the serpent into pieces. He easily dodged the Banisher, increasing his speed towards the two wizards.
Grunting, Harry ratcheted up the speed of his broom as he raced directly upwards, pushing the speed of his Firebolt. He peripherally registered Jim's hissed spells spanning Mactasses and Stupefy, a bit surprised at his twin's seeming comfort in casting in the Serpent's Tongue.
'Shamballa seems to have done him some good.'
At almost 5000 feet Harry felt a barrier that prevented him from going further, realizing the Dark Mark wouldn't allow him to leave. Turning in a graceful parabolic arch he raced back down towards land.
"VENTUSsS!" cried Jim, emphasizing the latter syllable of the spell to create a wind-wave that buffeted their pursuer away.
However, the modified spell was not able to block the roar of "BOMBARDA MAXIMA!"
The sheer force of the modified Bombardment Spell created actual shockwaves as it detonated midair, the concussive impact successfully upending Jim from the broom as he screamingly hurtled towards his death.
"JIM!"
A Protego, a little Dilation, and some quick maneuvering helped Lord Wilkes avoid the bulk of the Exploding Charm as he raced towards the screaming form of Heir Potter.
Unfortunately, at around 1000 feet, an actual wayward Stupefy from the fiercely aerial-dueling pair of Junior Auror Siobhan McLaggen and one of Tyrfing's raiders slammed directly into Harry's unsuspecting form, rendering his world to black.
At the Same Time…
A grunt of pain escaped Theo No-Name's lips as the Bonebreaker launched by Mr. Inimicus' foot soldier clipped his right shoulder, forcibly pushing him backward. He registered Hermione screaming his name in panic but he waved her off as he switched wand hands and reengaged the Death Eater, encouraging his Gryffindor friend to do the same.
Despite the impressiveness of their collective magical skill, this particular dark wizard was quite skilled and could comfortably hold his own against three schoolchildren.
The trio had ended up near the forest in the ensuing fracas of the explosion in the Refreshment Square, losing sight of Harry and Jim as a stampede started amidst the chaos. Just as they were about to cross the threshold of the forest line, they were set upon by a Death Eater who cornered them with full intent to end their young lives.
A cry of "CRUCIO!" broke her reverie, watching in horror as it connected with Theo.
Brutal screams were torn from the ex-Nott's lips as he thrashed about from the spell's impact. Neville, in an unexpected pique of shock, gaping as he witnessed the Slytherin suffer from the effects of the same Unforgivable that rendered his parents permanent patients of the Janus Thickey Ward.
"THEO!" screamed Hermione in horror, before audibly growling as she launched a flurry of retaliatory magic at the Death Eater scum.
"FURNUNCULUS! CONJUNCTIVITIS! IMMOBULUS! SYRTES!"
Massive boils erupted over the dark wizard's face beneath his mask as his legs stiffened, made worse by the instant reddening and pain in his eyes. Limbs froze just as he was dragged downward into the quicksand pit, quickly sinking below.
Hermione rushed to Theo's side, who still twitched and gurgled from the Cruciatus' after-effects. Unfortunately in her haste, the Gryffindor failed to disarm Mr. Inimicus' raider, who used the opportunity to bellow "EXVISCERA!"
Neville jerked out of his haze. "NO! HERMIONE!"
Her head snapped at the sound of her name, golden-brown orbs widening as part of the Entrail-Expeller clipped her rescuer's right side, immediately downing him with an agonized scream as a portion of his innards burst out of his body in a gory red spray.
"NEVILLE NOOOO!"
Heir Longbottom gurgled and coughed out blood as he clutched at his side, his pain warring with his horror at holding his literal viscera in his hands.
Hermione gawked for a beat, both at the spell's lurid effects and the boy - the same one she'd been treating so dreadfully for months - bravely stepping in the path of a deadly spell for her.
Her head whipped to the Death Eater, and through the haze of tears she felt a surge of pure rage overwhelm her.
She wanted him to suffer for what he'd done.
In a flash, two of Gilderoy Lockhart's choice spells from his duel with Lily Evans in her Second Year swam to the forefront of Hermione's memories.
"AQUA ERUCTO! BAUBILIOUS!"
A powerful jet of water hit their would-be murderer hard and dead-center. Hermione thrust her wand downward as she released the electric spark spell, watching with grim satisfaction as it followed a thin trail of water to the Death Eater, whose eyes widened unseen behind his mask.
The effect was instantaneous, and the power of the witch's spells caused the dark wizard to scream bloody murder as he was electrocuted alive.
Ignoring the scent of burning flesh and pushing back the thought that she may be killing a man Hermione raced to a whitened Neville's side and to cast Vulnera Sanentur , hoping against hope that she wouldn't have the blood of two on her hands.
9:36PM
Most of the Champions Tent's occupants huddled near the rear, feeling varying degrees of sheer dread at whatever madness was headed their way.
Despite the multiple protective charms cast on the tent proper, it was unable to stop the hair-raising volume of terrified screams of spectators as the Death Eaters and Erasmus Wilkes' fiendish creations wrought murderous pandemonium.
Conspicuously absent were DIMC and DMLE Directors Crouch and Shacklebolt respectively, the former having left exactly ten minutes before the first series of explosions sounded. He'd cited needing to "get back to his tent to check on a few things", commanding Percy Weasley to remain and diplomatically schmooze as needed.
As for Kingsley, he'd sent Patronus missives to Aurors Moody and Robards to initiate Advanced Shepherd and Modified Vanguard Protocols to stave off the inevitable civilian stampede as well as successfully stave off the Death Eater combatants. He'd then marched off to presumably join them in battle.
The remainder of the tent's occupants were huddled against the rearmost end of the tent, wands at the ready to defend their persons if need be. Fear was the foremost of their collective emotions as they wondered how the hell they were to make it out of this alive .
Save Viktor and his family most of the Bulgarian team and their chosen guests left almost immediately after the match ended, not really in the mood to celebrate their disastrous loss.
(Team Captain Vasily Dimitrov wasn't certain that he'd be able to control himself from getting in a fight with Referee Mostafa and thus avoided the tent entirely to prevent a diplomatic disaster.)
Likewise, most of the Irish team had taken their leave some minutes earlier to their own tent so they could celebrate their victory with their respective families, free from all the excess politicking.
For Lord Malfoy it was a strange sense of déjà vu as he recalled a similar situation during the Acromantula Siege of the Ministry of Magic, though he was pleased to have Lord Parkinson flanking his right, ready to support his liege with…whatever was coming. The Merlin-forsaken tattoos covering both their chests hadn't stopped shifting beneath their skin since the Dark Mark appeared in the sky, though Andrew had to work to not grit his teeth at the phantom burning that accompanied the deeply uncomfortable sensation.
The worst of Lucius' anxiety was owed to Draco's presence, whose face was quite pale at the situation at hand. Nonetheless he maintained his psychic shields, positioning his body to partially shield an even paler but nonetheless equally determined Ginny Weasley.
Percy stood to his sister's left, wearing an equally grim expression of determination as he braced himself for what was to come. A few feet over were the Krums and Minister Oblansk, looking quite grim. The Gryffindor was mildly surprised to see Viktor unsheath a rather menacing-looking steel sword that one sufficiently well-read would have likened to mech-kladenets, the Chosen Blade wielded by legendary Bogatyr Dobrynya Nikitich. Heir Kolumbiko eyed the blade from his position next to the Krums, belatedly annoyed that he'd neglected to bring his Nimcha along.
A few feet away was Sirius in full Auror Black-mode, standing guardedly in front of the horrified pair of Justin and Anthony. By some miracle he'd managed to push back his concern for Harry's safety to the back of his mind, knowing that Lily would do everything in her power to protect him.
About five feet to his right was Minister Bones, her face arranged in its standard stern mask. Her shields were at their maximum, helping her exude the unflappable calm she needed in this situation to steadfastly ignore the sounds of chaos and carnage wrought by dark wizards just outside the tent's confines. Instinct to defend the innocent warred with reason to stay put, as Wizarding England could not suffer another death of its Minister of Magic.
The diplomatic catastrophe and blight against Wizarding England's reputation incurred by this raid was an issue Amelia pushed further back into her mind, an equally serious disaster she couldn't allow to distract her at this time.
Right in the center was Lord Gaunt, perfectly blank-faced and exuding a particular brand of serene calm that, ironically, made a few choice hairs on Amelia's neck stand. Trained in ward-sensing by her late mother, the Hufflepuff applied those learned principles when evaluating the 'magical aura' of whatever individual that crossed her path, a very useful skill in her days as an Auror.
Tom Riddle's was uncommonly intense, and Amelia would have no issue believing he was an Archmage.
A few minutes passed uneventfully but no less stressfully, before Minister Oblansk growled out:
"Are we meant to just… stand here all night?"
In seeming response to his question, four orichalchum swords thrust through the back part of the tent and audibly ripped the fabric, the metal easily negating the protective magicks imbued in the canvas.
They all scurried backwards at the commotion, fear mixing with awe as the killer toys made their entrance.
On bloody horseback too.
Galahad's eyes widened infinitesimally, recognizing the Knight-Toys. A memory of Tom's floated to the surface of his mind; of him and a then 15-year-old Erasmus Wilkes playing wizard chess in the Lair whilst he and Heir Wilkes - in one of his rare 'calm' moods - bantered about the limitations of standard Animation Charms on ensorcelled metals and the capability of Parselrunes and Parselfiguration in overcoming that limitation.
"Jussst imagine it Tommy-boy! A life-sssize chesss board with piecccesss as large as a sssmall giant, all of whossse Animatttion matrixxxesss would run near infinitely! And onccce checkmate isss reached, it automatically ressstartsss! Or better yet, the King offsss hisss own head!"
The Knight shook off the recollection of maddened glee shining in Erasmus' eldritch green eyes at that final declaration.
It seemed Mr. Toymaker had found the means to not only achieve some aspect of his youthful goal, but to weaponize it too.
"Bozhe moĭ!" Krasimira paled in horror as she staggered backwards at the sight before her. Her husband stood protectively in front of her as their son did the same for their daughter, who lightly frowned at the action but nonetheless didn't complain.
The four killer toys cantered through the tent's opening almost… casually . They looked even more sinister up close - all gleaming intricate gold lines, two of their number bearing sharp blades and the other two handling wickedly sharp-looking maces. Despite the sallet helmets covering the foursomes heads, the toys' eyes exuded a sinister energy that made choice hairs on the back of many necks stand. The horses' eyes were the same, and almost all snorted menacingly as they gazed in the eyes of their would-be prey. Each bore an escutcheon bearing strange snakey symbols that elicited a slight frown from Galahad as he recognized the use of Parselrunes and their meanings.
For Percy, he was almost immediately reminded of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, shuddering at the suggestiveness.
Sirius suddenly swore viciously. "Bloody orichalcum; most of our spells won't work." He swore again before summoning a wayward fork and transfiguring the object into a Carracks black sword, hoping that he remembered enough of Grandfather's training from his boyhood to survive the night. He was surprised to see Bones and Malfoy Sr. copy his movements as they prepared themselves to battle.
"So… animated toys whose symbology is emblematic of combat , rendered that much deadlier by being forged entirely of magical metal that's impervious to the bulk of combat magic?" Despite the sarcastic lilt of his voice, there was a keen wobble in Anthony's voice. "Could this get any bloody worse?!"
Draco and Ginny both winced in recollection of Blaise's repeated warnings to not aggravate the gods of irony with unneeded rhetorical questions. Naturally, Mr. Inimicus and four of his foot soldiers apparated in less than a moment later.
9:43PM
"Shh-shh-shh , it's ok Missy, it's ok! One more, just one more!"
Filtering out her mentee's agonized screams and the blood covering her own hands, Healer Hooper focused on pipetting Essence of Dittany over the horrific burns covering the wailing witch's exposed arms, neck, and the left half of her face. The phial did not refill, meaning the linked master cauldron in the Primary Potion Facility had been significantly damaged or completely emptied.
Grunting, Molly pulled Missy closer to her body as far back behind the makeshift dome-like barricade Andy transfigured from the ruins of the nurse's station. Madame Tonks utilized a small opening to fire choice offensive spells at their attacker, hoping to keep the witch engaged long enough for help to arrive.
Sinking deeper behind her mental shields, Healer Hooper worked to apply a Skin-Knitting Charm.
In a feat of irony the Slytherin's injuries were not caused by the series of earthshaking explosions that rocked through the hospital almost an hour earlier, effectively trapping the trio in the nurse's station as debris from the second and third floors crashed blocked the entrances to the Dai Llewellyn and Emergency Wards. A cry of "MORSMORDRE!" was their only warning before they were suddenly beset by a five-person squadron of Death Eaters that apparated directly in.
Entrail-Expelling and Bludgeoning Curses were their opening salvo, taking down the few terrified guests and a handful of staff Healers who were congregated in the adjacent waiting area. To Molly's horror she witnessed two of their number turn into billows of smok e that moved through the debris blocking the wards' entrances, granting them free reign to the trapped Healers and patients that they could maim and kill to their hearts' desire.
The remaining three set their sights on Missy, Molly, and Andy, the foremost of whom froze in panicked terror before a modified Flagrante caused her skin to blister and bleed as though burned with Dark fire. A horrified Molly immediately pulled her behind the nurse's station as Healer Tonks cast fortifying and defensive magicks to give them a fighting chance.
Andy was surprisingly deft with a wand, quickly taking down two with well-placed Coma and Stasis Charms in lieu of the Bludgeoning and Blasting Hexes she would have preferred.
Blasted Healer Oaths.
Their leader Miss Ann Thrope was proving to be quite the challenge, her speed rather dizzying. Her Melpomene-style tragedy mask was doubly lurid considering the blood splatters from the innocent spectators she'd murdered earlier, not at all helped by the deranged manner she screamed her spells.
Andy was reminded of her late sister, lips thinning into an unyielding line at the memories.
"Where the hell are the aurors?!"
The older Slytherin grimaced at the Hufflepuff's question. "If they are here, they won't be able to apparate in due to the Dark Mark. And that's to say nothing of the additional Death Eaters potentially waiting for them. Whatever caused those explosions has probably blocked off any entryways for a rescue team. Until… until the Dark Mark comes down, we're going to be stuck here for the long haul." Despite the feigned chipperness of her tone, Andy couldn't keep the grimace off her face as
Molly frowned at the daunting prospect. She thought to summon one of the three house elves to apparate them out, but then recalled that per the St. Mungo's Operations Handbook the elves were required to guard the various patient wards until additional help arrived.
They were properly buggered.
Tucking a somewhat stable Missy deeper into the protective dome, Molly focused her wand on refortifying the protective magicks on their shield.
"BOMBARDA!"
Eyes narrowed, Andy quickly summoned a piece of broken wall rubble that she then transfigured into a large stone shield, blocking the curse. Another slash of hawthorn saw bits of the shield blur into wickedly sharp needles Andy launched at the dark witch, forcing her on the defensive.
"IMMOBULUS! STUPEFY! EXPELLIARMUS!"
Regaining her wits Thrope used Averto to deflect the first, blocked the second, and sidestepped the third.
Snarling, Andy made a big show of yelling "DEPULSO!" followed by a nonverbal Tussio and Sternius.
Yet again, the Death Eater nimbly blocked the spells before launching her own counteroffensive at the Healer.
A volley of Bludgeoners flew at the healers, followed by two slashes of Exviscera and Crucio - the former launched at Andy, the latter at a wide-eyed Molly.
Cursing viciously, the Slytherin used Averto to block the flurry of Mactasses as she transfigured another shield to absorb the latter two spells, quickly transforming the ensuing debris into crows she launched at the Death Eater.
A cry of "EVANESCO!" disappeared the killer crows, and Thrope didn't hesitate to launch a barrage of Diffindo, Lacero, and, to Madame Tonks' horror, the incantation for the Blood-Boiling Curse.
The very same curse Narcissa taught to her sisters, claiming to have learned it from the notoriously deranged Great-Uncle Cygnus Black II, who'd discovered it in the Black family's ancient grimoire. The uniquely dark nature of the spell meant that it couldn't be blocked or parried in the traditional sense; it required an end-target that had to be a human body, else it would not dissipate.
A sharp sweep of her wand summoned the corpse of Healer Annie Peasegood, whose form jerked at the spell's impact. Her pale skin began to redden as her blood boiled, causing the unnatural postmortem flush.
Andy gently Banished the body away, but unfortunately she showed too much of her own form in doing so, allowing Ann to land three rapidfire Laceros to the Slytherin's shoulder, wand arm, and upper back.
Molly gaped in horror as Andy cried out in pain, her wounds quickly gushing blood.
A surge of anger and fear-induced adrenaline rushed through Healer Hooper as she pointed her wand at the dark witch. "MIMBLEWIMBLE! RICTUMSEMPRA! VERTIGO! INCARCEROUS!"
The Death Eater dodged the first but caught the full brunt of the second, bursting into unexpected laughter. The Vertigo spell rendered her dizzy just as the Rope-Binding Spell connected with her form, causing her to fall down with an audible grunt.
Molly gaped at the effects of her magic, hesitating for a few seconds as she surveyed her opponent.
A scream of pure rage poured from Miss Ann Thrope's mouth as she slashed at the ropes binding her form, directing her attention to the two scum who refused to just die. She'd grown rather impatient with the entire fracas, her wrath swelling to unbearable levels as her hornbeam wand physically vibrated in response to her intense emotions.
There was only one spell that would soothe her fury and destroy her enemies.
"FIENDFYRE!"
And hell came to St. Mungo's.
AN 1: I split Part 3 into two (2) sections; Part 4 will be posted shortly, thus marking the finale of this arc.
AN 2: Bozhe moĭ translates as 'My God!' in Bulgarian
AN 3: The identities of Mr. Inimicus and Miss Ann Thrope will be revealed later in Book 4.