Chapter 134

Attacking the Ministry

Sirius looked around the busy station as he walked through Charing Cross underground station, with Scrimgeour, Remus and Kingsley walking with him. Bill, Moody, and Crouch were following behind, but keeping a distance, so they weren't all spotted as a large group.

Sirius hoped they weren't spotted at all; he wanted the attack to go smoothly, and if they were stopped, then it would prove tricky. They were all carrying the same coins that Hermione had created in her fifth year at Hogwarts, though they would merely give off a warning if activated, meaning that everyone needed to abandon the plan.

"We're clear so far," Kingsley said, in his deep voice. He was wearing a muggle suit; all of them were, though they were merely an illusion. They were wearing what would make them comfortable in battle, but until the spell was removed, they would simply be looking to wear the suits.

Moody even looked relatively normal with the illusion, which had taken a lot to pull off. If anyone saw him, they'd see a muggle man, with both his eyes and legs. As they reached the entrance to the tunnel area, Remus frowned. "Wait, there," he said, indicating three people off to the side. Sirius nodded, and made to walk towards the train, walking past the three, with Remus and Moody, before the three turned around and silently cast the Imperius curse on the three, making them turn and get onto the tube, ensuring they would fall asleep and not get off until the end of the line.

With the threat removed, the three of them headed back and went through the door, leading the way to the entrance of the secret tunnel.

"Alright, that was the easy part," Moody said. "Now we get to make some noise."

"Not yet we don't," Sirius said. "We need to get into position," he added, before removing the illusion spell.

"Don't worry, we've got this," Kingsley assured him, as he and the others all removed the illusion spell.

"Once you start the attack, we'll head straight to the court level, and get the prisoners out," Scrimgeour said.

"Be careful," Remus insisted.

"We will be, lad," Moody assured him.

"I've got no intention of dying today," Crouch added, smirking as they kept walking through the tunnel.

"How far does this go?" Bill asked.

"We're almost there," Scrimgeour replied. He waved his wand, before smiling. "Good, the tunnel's clear, and so's my office."

"Won't Thicknesse be there?" Bill asked.

"No, today there's a weekly meeting, and whilst he may be under the Imperius curse, that's still something that'll need to happen," Scrimgeour replied.

"Is that why you suggested that the attack happening today?" Bill asked.

"Exactly why," Scrimgeour agreed. "Which means a lot of people will be at their weekly briefings."

"Okay, good," Sirius smiled, as they neared the entrance to Scrimgeour's office. He took a deep breath and looked at the group. "Everyone ready?"

"Let's get this done," Kingsley said.

"I'm always ready to take on You-Know-Who's people," Moody added, with a dark grin.

"Moody, when you smile like that, you terrify me," Remus said, chuckling.

"Let's hope old Mouldy Short's people feel the same way," Sirius said, opening the door.

Sitting at a table in the atrium outside the ministry café, Charlie smiled as he took a sip of his coffee and looked at Viktor. "I swear, if anyone told me I'd be here with you as a friend, I'd never have believed them," Charlie said softly. They were using Polyjuice potion to look like other wizards. "From the moment you entered the Quidditch scene, I hoped to meet you. The way you moved was always so perfect."

"Thank you," Viktor said, chuckling softly. "I always found flying to be… peaceful. When I was in the air, it felt like nothing could hurt me, and that nothing could stop me. Everything was perfect."

"I can understand that," Cedric said. "I felt the same way, but I was never as good as you. I loved Quidditch, and I still do, but I didn't know where I wanted to be."

"Not everyone does," Percy said. "I know you're happy with Cho, and she's teaching right now with Minerva, but if you're happy with who you are, then follow it. I love Penelope, and she's pregnant with our child."

"Congratulations," Charlie smiled. "I'm happy for you, bro."

"Thank you, Charlie," Percy smiled. Tonks shifted nervously in her chair. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Tonks replied, looking up.

"You sure?" Charlie asked, frowning as he took her hand. "I love you, you know that, right?"

"I do," Tonks confirmed. Charlie had to admit, she looked strange in her disguise, they all did.

"So, what's the matter?" Charlie asked.

"I'm going to take her out of here now," Alicia said. "Men, you can be so dim witted sometimes," she scoffed.

"I can't disagree," Charlie said, looking confused, as Percy chuckled.

"Go, quickly, the others will be ready anytime now," Percy said. "Charlie, I'm not the only one who's gonna be a dad," he added. Charlie's eyes widened as Tonks smiled, nodding.

"We'll talk after, but make sure you come back," Tonks insisted, kissing Charlie before she and Alicia left.

"Merlin's Beard," Charlie whispered.

"Don't worry, you're gonna be a great father," Percy complimented.

"Thank you, Percy," Charlie smiled. "I just… I feel like… I don't know, I feel excited and terrified at the same time."

"I get that. When I found out about Penny, I felt the same way. But when we're done, we'll sit down and talk, and relax," Percy promised.

"Sounds like a plan," Charlie agreed. As he went to say something else, an explosion shook the entire atrium, with alarms blaring.

"Hey, hey, hey, they're playing our song," Cedric smiled, standing up. "Everyone ready?"

"As we'll ever be," Charlie agreed, before starting his attack.

Sirius smiled as he sent an attack towards one of the guards, missing him, but striking a wall, causing another explosion.

"Remember, we're trying not to kill anyone unless we know they're Death Eaters," Remus pointed out.

"I know, and I didn't want to hit that guard. I knew he'd duck," Sirius replied, as Kingsley brought down a wall leading to an office, distracting several guards.

"Just keep them occupied," Kingsley said.

"I thought I was," Sirius said. His eyes narrowed as he saw a face he recognised.

"Yaxley," Sirius snarled angrily. He immediately fired the killing curse towards him, but growled as Yaxley was able to dodge it. "Him, I'm killing."

"Be my guest, love," Remus agreed, sending a curse at Yaxley, who again avoided it.

"We can't let them box us in; we need to move," Kingsley said.

"No, we need to bottle them in. We move back, but make sure we can get back through the exit tunnel, and block off every avenue but one," Sirius said.

"Sounds like a plan," Remus agreed.

"Let's do it," Kingsley concurred, as he began to move back, firing curses at the guards.

As Charlie managed to stun a guard, he fired a curse at the statue, which angered him. Thicknesse had clearly been instructed what to do; the old statue showed Wizards and Witches working together, but the new one showed them standing on top of naked muggles. As Charlie sent a second blast at the statue, Percy also sent a blast at it. Both spells struck the right spot, and the statue began to topple over.

The guards ahead of them immediately fled the landing area, some jumping out of the way, and as they did, Sophie, Cedric, and Viktor each fired stunning curses, knocking the guards out, just as a few more came out into view.

"Thankfully, this isn't all their guards. The diversions working," Percy said, smiling.

"Oh, good, I was worried this was going to be difficult," Cedric teased, smirking as he fired another shot towards the guards.

"Will the Minister get every prisoner out?" Viktor asked.

"Course he will; he's already gotten us this far," Charlie pointed out. "If I'm right, he's already on the court levels, and he's about to launch his attack."

"How many guards are there?" Scrimgeour asked, leaning behind the corner of the corridor wall.

"About fifteen; seven on one side, eight on the other," Moody replied.

"All Death Eaters?" Crouch asked. Moody looked around the corner as he fired a curse, his magical eye also scanning the area.

"Yeah," Moody confirmed.

"Good," Crouch leapt across the corridor, sending two killing curses. Both struck their targets, as Crouch stood up, smiling. "Thirteen."

"Oh, I got something planned," Scrimgeour said, as he pulled out a muggle firearm. "I decided to try one of these."

"You use one before?" Moody asked.

"Only practicing," Scrimgeour said. "But they can't block it."

"They can avoid it, so be careful," Moody insisted, as he sent another curse around the corner. Scrimgeour looked around the corner carefully, before aiming and firing the pistol. Crouch's eyes widened as he heard the loud banging noise of the pistol.

"Bloody hell!" Crouch exclaimed. "That's damned loud."

"Works, though," Moody commented. "That's three down."

"And they're confused," Scrimgeour said, as he looked around the corner. "I don't think they know how to react, but they're hiding."

"Did they even see the… what's it called?" Crouch asked.

"A bullet, and I don't think so. As far as they know, it killed them without sending out anything," Scrimgeour said, before firing twice more.

"Can't say I like that thing," Crouch said.

"If it helps us, then it'll do," Moody told him. "Lad, don't forget, they'd use them on you if they had brains."

"Doesn't mean I like it," Crouch pointed out, but sighed and fired a curse around the corner, hitting another guard. "It seems… barbaric."

"Can we discuss it later?" Scrimgeour asked.

"Gladly," Moody agreed, firing several curses at the Death Eaters.

Sirius laughed as he managed to send another curse at a guard, sending them flying. It was at that point that he noticed a Death Eater, McNair. "Okay, I'm taking that bastard out," Sirius said. "I remember Hagrid telling me how he was excited to be killing Buckbeak, even though he failed."

"Don't do anything stupid," Remus insisted.

"When have I done anything stupid?" Remus asked. "You know what? Don't answer," he added, as Remus went to speak.

"Good choice," Kingsley teased, as Sirius sent several curses towards the guards and Death Eaters. He ran down another corridor and struck a guard with a stunning curse. As he turned around the corner, he saw the attackers, and fired a killing curse, followed by a second. McNair turned, seeing him, but it was too late to do anything, and it struck him in the face, his body falling immediately.

Sirius smirked as he turned and went back to Remus and Kingsley, blasting the wall as he went, blocking the corridor.

"Okay, I think we're almost done here, right?" Sirius asked.

"Not yet. We need to wait for the signal from the others," Kingsley said. "But I fear we might not have a choice but to retreat."

"Given that they're about to overrun us, I think it's time we left, but we don't need to make it easy for them," Remus said.

"Alright, fall back to Scrimgeour's office," Kingsley said, moving backwards with the others.

As the last of the Death Eaters fell, Moody walked with Scrimgeour and Crouch, looking at the bodies on the floor, as well as a large pool of blood. "My god, this is…" Crouch said, looking at it, the smell of copper in the air.

"Yeah. How the hell do the muggles live with this? It's… definitely barbaric," Scrimgeour said, looking at the gun. He threw it on the ground and used his wand to destroy it. "I never want to use one of those again."

"Even I have to admit, that's not a weapon anyone should use," Moody said. His eyes widened as he saw one of the Death Eaters, gasping as he tried to move. Crouch squatted down next to the man.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," Crouch said softly, as the Death Eater coughed, blood spitting out, before he fell limp. "I don't care if they'd use it, we're never using those things again," Crouch said angrily.

"No argument here," Scrimgeour said, his skin pale. "Gods, this is…"

"Lad, we can throw up later. We need to get to those prisoners," Moody insisted, leading the way.

As they walked through the double doors, there were almost fifty people, standing against a wall, or rather, cowering, with multiple Dementors between the prisoners, and the trio. Without hesitation, all three of them sent out their Patronus's, along with waves of bright light, forcing them to flee from the room, going around them, and gliding away from the room.

"Alright people, it's time to get you out of here. We've got wands here if you can fight. If not, just follow us," Scrimgeour said.

"Minister Scrimgeour?" one of the people asked.

"Yeah, reports of my retirement were just crap from the Death Eaters. Come on, we need to leave, now," Scrimgeour said, handing out the wands that he, Crouch, and Moody had brought.

"Let's hope that the others are keeping themselves busy and taking away the heat from here," Crouch said.

As Percy managed to take down another guard, he ducked, barely avoiding a killing curse. "Haven't they noticed we're not killing them?" Charlie asked angrily.

"I guess not," Cedric replied, stunning a guard. As three of the guards went to attack, they were stunned from behind, with Moody, Scrimgeour, and Crouch leading fifty people, half of whom were armed.

"Okay, looks like we're out of here," Percy said, sending the signal using his coin, which meant Sirius, Remus, and Kingsley would know it was time to go.

The group ran over to Crouch, as Scrimgeour and Moody were guiding the prisoners out of the Ministry.

"Looks like you handled things here," Crouch complimented.

"Thankfully, we weren't overwhelmed. Looks like most of them went after Sirius, Remus, and Kingsley," Charlie said.

"I hope they got out okay," Crouch said.

"Are you okay? You look a little… pale," Percy commented.

"Long story," Crouch said. "And since our Polyjuice potion seems to be wearing off, we can talk about it later," he added, indicating the fact that Percy's hair was once again ginger, as was Charlie's. "Where's Tonks and Alicia?"

"Long story, but they left before the battle," Charlie said, as the last of the prisoners left, with Scrimgeour, just as an explosion rocked the atrium. Everyone turned, seeing Yaxley leading Death Eaters, and guards, towards them.

Charlie led the way as they ran for the exit, with curses filling the air. As they neared the exit, Charlie cried out as he was struck in the leg with a curse, falling to the ground. Crouch grabbed him, pulling him behind some rubble.

"Bloody hell, what did they hit me with?" Charlie asked, through gritted teeth.

"Reducto curse, I think," Crouch said, as he used his magic to try and seal the wound. "I stopped the bleeding for now, but we need to leave, quickly."

"You have a plan?" Charlie asked. Before Crouch could respond, several curses went past them, as Moody moved forward.

"Get moving you two, now," Moody insisted. "I'll be right behind you."

"Thanks for the cover," Charlie said, as Crouch helped him up. As they reached the exit, Crouch put Charlie in the fireplace first, just as Moody was destroying the other exits.

"Moody, time to go," Crouch said, as he fired at Yaxley and several guards.

"You first," Moody told him. Crouch went to step into the fireplace, he was thrown to the floor by an explosion to his left, with Yaxley looking murderous.

Crouch could hear a loud ringing in his ears as he felt dizzy, with blood gently oozing down his face from a cut on his forehead. He felt Moody's arms grab him and could make out Moody throwing him into the fireplace.

"Lad, can you hear me?" Moody asked. Crouch nodded weakly. "I need a favour."

"Now?" Crouch asked weakly.

"For always. Take care of Sirius, Lily, and the others, and most of all, take care of yourself" Moody told him, deflecting a curse.

"What… what do you mean?" Crouch asked, looking up at him. Moody smiled.

"I thought you weren't to be trusted. I was wrong, and damned glad of it, and proud of you, as a father would be of a son," Moody said. "Now, get going," he said. Crouch's eyes widened as he realised what Moody was doing.

"No, Moody, don't!" Crouch exclaimed, but it was too late. As he started to disappear from the fireplace, he saw Moody's curse striking it, just as a green jet of light struck Moody!