It vaguely resembled a large sewing needle of reddish gold, with tiny barbs running along its length. Greymist's wand was the only object of interest found on his person when he got taken into custody, and completely unlike any wand Hermione had ever seen in her life. She was about to have the Aurors dispose of it when she thought of a better idea.

Should a criminal wizard wish to act discreetly, they would use the wand of another. Greymist, however, had no qualms about using his own wand. They could see not only the history of the last spells he had cast (the red lightning one was of particular academic interest to Hermione) but perhaps, due to the bond between wizard and wand, she hoped that they could also glimpse all the places this wand had been, and so locate Greymist's base of operations.

„It's not over..." beside her, Jeremy muttered Greymist's last words as they made their way to the office of the Minister for Magic. The center of the Ministry of Magic, the center of the wizarding world of Great Britain, was scarcely a mere office. Having inherited it from her predecessors, Hermione did her best to place her own stamp on it. For example the stacks of books lining the walls were there to make the monumental place seem smaller, to mask its true purpose as a place to receive individual guests and to overwhelm them with awe. After walking along the high–ceilinged corridor to the heavy wooden door of the office, the visitors would enter to find the lonely figure of the Minister for Magic, almost lost in their office from which they governed and worked tirelessly for the future of wizardkind. The Minister would then rise and come forward to greet the new arrival and thus put them at ease. The theatrical effect was acute – simultaneously intimate and intimidating.

Most of it was lost on Jeremy, though, as the Minister never insisted on any ceremony between the two beyond the bare minimum of respect. She strode in, Greymist's wand in her hands, and approached the enormous uncluttered desk at the core of the office. There she sat, and motioned for Jeremy to do the same.

„Did you visit Eren?" she asked without looking at him. She placed the wand on a bronze plate in the center of the desk which shifted slightly under its weight, unusual for a mere wand. A thin strip of paper slid out from somewhere within the desk and she tore it off, staring at it with a frown. She had hoped to find out the wand's composition and core, but the readout was nothing but question marks.

„I... haven't," Jeremy admitted. „I felt the need to see our aspiring dark lord first."

„Was it worth it?"

„I've yet to decide. What are you doing, exactly?"

„This wand has caught my eye, is all. For a number of reasons," Hermione said and produced her own wand of vine wood. She pointed it at Greymist's wand as she conducted her examination. „The look of it, the weight of it, the spells it cast... the four of his accomplices all have their tongues cut out, save for one, and he isn't being helpful. So I have been hoping to access this wand's history, to find out where and when was it used before. If we're lucky, we might find out where Greymist's base is located." Her wand pulsed briefly with amber light, and she hummed. „Interesting. He seems to have placed a spell on the wand itself, to prevent examinations like the one I'm doing now."

„Of course he has. Can you break the spell or, I don't know, bypass it?"

Hermione nodded. „I invented it. Right then... Let's see what you've got for us, Greymist..."

„There's something I should let you know, though," he interrupted. „I don't think it was a good idea to capture Greymist..."

„Why not?"

„Because I watched the Dark Knight."

„What?"

„Look, I feel like he wanted this to happen, he wanted us to catch him!"

Hermione looked at him, considering his words. „I see," she nodded. „But we can hardly do anything about it now, can we?"

Indeed, if this was his plan, what could they do now to thwart him? Release him again? Sighing heavily, Jeremy watched as Hermione set aside her wand and placed her two index fingers on the middle of Greymist's wand. She slowly drew them apart, a thin blue–green line appearing on the surface of the wand as she did so, like an incision made by a surgeon. She then looked inside at something only she could see.

And what she saw made her look up at Jeremy. He returned the look.

The office exploded. An immense incandescent column of red and black energy burst into being, engulfing them both, incinerating everything in its vicinity but the two of them. The building in which Hermione's office was situated began raining debris and shards of glass down on the unsuspecting populace. They turned their gazes up, some drawing their wands and putting up shields to protect themselves and those nearby from the worst of it.

But against that pillar of destruction they could not protect themselves. It writhed as if alive, sparing whom it would and devouring others. It plunged down into the recesses of the underworld, cleaving through and burning anything unlucky enough to be caught in its path. The great marble and glass architectural achievements of wizardkind lost cohesion and collapsed, crushing their makers even as they tried to evacuate the district in a panic. Down and down and down the crimson serpent went, to the dungeon where Malachi Greymist was hidden away, never to see daylight again. His guards and the wards designed to keep him contained were overwhelmed and destroyed in an instant, the Excruciator himself scooped up by the blazes and carried off to his loyal wand.

Alive. Jeremy was alive. How...? And the vial... he felt for it in his pocket. Unbroken.

Dimly, he percieved that Hermione was alive, too. She stumbled to her feet, as the flames delivered unto them a shadow. They both grabbed their respective wands, but the Minister's resistance was shortlived, overwhelmed as she was by what just transpired.

He heard an Expelliarmus being cast with an almost bored voice, followed by a petrifying spell. Jeremy tried to rise to her aid, tried to reach inside his pocket and use the vial, but too late. Her limbs snapping together, the Minister for Magic was kidnapped by Malachi Greymist.