I certainly have no rights to Harry Potter, but this won't stop me writing this story. However, you probably already know this. As it is my specialty, and as in my other big stories, this shows how things go if something went different right at the beginning. Please note that I'm not a fan of bashing and also don't expect the two main pairings to differ from canon. However, the path to them certainly will be quite different. I also want to try and subvert certain plots and things that became common in the fandom over the years.
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Chapter 83: Collapse
Amelia Bones knew things were coming towards an end and she had prepared accordingly - at least as far as she could in their situation. The fall of the Ministry could happen at any moment now, thus she hoped that the preparations would be enough. Right at the moment there was a final update in her office. Besides herself, Rufus Scrimgeour and Pius Thicknesse were being present, having worked with her on preparing for Day X.
"Is everything done to ensure that once it happens, we have all we need to start a new government in due time and salt the earth here?" Bones asked the two men.
"Most certainly," said Thicknesse, who had moved up into Bones' old position. "It was time-consuming due to the utmost secrecy involved, which would even make Alastor Moody look lenient, but we did manage to move all the important files to a secure location, as well well as certain items that under no circumstance can be allowed to fall into enemy hands. We made extra sure no moles would know so with means not entirely ethical - though there were certain lines we wouldn't cross."
Thicknesse looked a bit pale, and that was little wonder. He was not exactly the most valiant of men and he had barely managed to avoid being put under the Imperius Curse several months prior. It was only thanks to the seemingly paranoid measures Bones had taken that he'd avoided that fate barely. That had shaken him deeply and ever since then Thicknesse seemed to had taken a page out of Moody's book on always being vigilant.
Scrimgeour spoke next. "There also are certain things we are unable to move that we rigged up with rune triggers. We've also done the needed vanishing work on what we are not moving but still can't fall into the hands of the enemy."
"Kind of an irony that we are intentionally doing this..." Bones mused to herself. "Is our exit also prepared for once things do get serious?"
"Yes, here..." Scrimgeour handed Bones a prophecy sphere. "It's empty. The portkey is to be activated manually and it's one-use only. Hopefully, we won't cause too much of a scene with it."
"Let's hope for the best, but it is one place the enemy won't suspect... What about the building?" Bones then asked.
"It's mostly empty now," Thicknesse reported. "Since the Ministry was barely functional anyway, we've sent most of the remaining staff home. Beside us, there now only is a skeleton staff in the building."
"Just to think that as the Minister for Magic I'm about to destroy the very institution I was sworn to lead..." Bones felt that fate had a strange sense of humor. "Once that deed is done... Well, you know a lot of people around the world will then hate our guts for the consequences and forcing their hand."
"We have little choice in the matter." Scrimgeour reminded the others. "Just imagine a Lord Voldemort with all of the ressources of the Ministry, being able to protect himself with its enchantments. I remember Dark Lord Kusnetzov ruling over Magical Russia. We can't risk it coming to that."
They all were old enough to have witnessed from the outside how the later years of Kusnetzov's rule had looked like. Even today Magical Russia still had not recovered from his decades of tyranny and its people had changed for the worse. To prevent something like that from happening again, they were willing to suffer the consequences of their actions.
"Well, that's it then. Now we can only wait..." Bones said while getting up from behind her desk. "This probably is the final time I'll see this office as the acting Minister. It kind of feels unreal how everything will soon be over."
"You are not alone with that feeling. The vast majority have realized, even without knowing how things really are in the Ministry, that much will change," Thicknese added.
The three of them knew that to be true. They were thinking about it, when...
-Ui Ui Ui Ui Ui Ui- "Alert, Alert! The entrances to the Ministry are under attack."
"Already?!" Bones felt that was a bit faster than anticipated. Then she knew that they had to enact their plan faster than they had imagined. "No time to lose! Come!"
They made hast to reach their goal; the Wizengamot Chamber, where the object if their mission was being stored. Thankfully, the office of the Minister for Magic was not far away from the chambers, and even though the building was mostly empty, they were passed by several employees, who were running in a headless panic.
"Don't we have an evacuation procedure?!" Thicknesse said in utter astomishment at what he was seeing.
"We have one. Not that it's worth much when everyone falls into a blind panic." Madam Bones was not pleased to see this happening, since it would mean more loss of life.
"What a way to show the real preparedness of the Ministry. It's workers running around like headless chickens," Scrimgeour cursed.
Just when they had reached the Wizengamot Chamber, another message came through. "The enemy has broken through! One entrance was sabotaged and opened from the inside!"
"Of course!" Scrimgeour cursed. "Sabotage from within..."
"Let's not waste time," Bones reminded him and slammed shut the door behind them, blocking it with a locking bar and enchanting it to stay in place.
They raced down the stairs in the Wizengamot Chamber to reach the lowest floor. Down there an enchanted glass vitrine was located, holding the very thing which enabled the Ministry to act as government of all wizards and witches in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It was a long piece of old parchment, holding the very contract between the Crown and the governing entity of the magical people of the isles.
A lot was bound to this very contract - so much that even Voldemort himself would not dare to touch it - and exactly was why they were approaching it.
"Access requested," Bones said, while touching the vitrine with her hand. "I speak nothing but the truth that one of the core fundamentals of the contract has been violated and access is required."
She felt a strange magic take a look at her thoughts and she did not resist. Then, the magic was satisfied that there indeed was a matter that touched upon an integral part of the contract and the vitrine vanished, allowing free access to the old contract.
Bones touched the contract with a finger. "Amelia Bones, current Minister for Magic. I am here with two top-level department heads as witnesses."
Scrimgeour touched the scroll next. "Rufus Scrimgeour, Head of the Auror Office. I am the first witness that nothing but the truth is being said."
Thicknesse was last to do so. "Pius Thicknesse, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. I am the second witness that nothing but the truth is being said."
They heard the sound of fighting and screams approaching, meaning they had not much time left.
The contract faintly glowed green, meaning that their oaths were proven and they now were beholden to it. Should an untruth be told, the consequences would be severe. Bones then addressed the matter at hand. "The contract was broken from the magical side." She saw the contract pulse, clearly waiting for her words. "The contract stipulates that the Crown does transfer its power over all matters regarding magic to the governmental body of the magical side. Should such a governmental body cease to exist or no longer function as a government, the power would return to the Crown and its appointed government."
The light surrounding the contract intensified. "As of this moment, the Ministry of Magic is no longer functional. The authority of the government has come to an end, especially in light of an outside force invading the Ministry. Thus the contract is broken and void."
Energy surged from the contract when the power behind it found, that nothing but the truth had been spoken. It had seen their thoughts and how all governmental power had broken down. They were acting in good faith. With the facts proven, the power behind the contract surged.
-Blam- The door to the Wizengamot Chamber was blasted open and no one less than Voldemort himself stormed in, only to stop when seeing the light show emerging from the contract. "What have you done?!" he shouted.
"Too late, Voldemort!" Bones said, when the word 'BREACHED' appeared in red ink over the contract. "The very contract that makes the Ministry what it is was recognized as broken!"
"YOU...!" Voldemort lifted his wand to kill them.
"No, you won't!" Scrimgeour called. "Enjoy your hollow victory!" Then all three of them touched the sphere and the portkey removed them from the chamber, the last thing they heard being Voldemort's scream of rage.
The three of them were deposited in a place no Death Eater would expect.
"Aaaaahhh!" Tony Blair screamed when all of a sudden three people appeared out of nowhere in his office in 10 Downing Street. It took a few seconds before he recognized Bones. "Minister, what...?"
However, he couldn't continue when the door was kicked open and security agents stormed in, alerted by the loud scream. "Guns down, guns down! There is no threat!" the Prime Minister shouted, hoping to prevent a bloodbath.
"Sir, how did those people get in here? There is only one door..." one security agent started to ask, but he didn't get far.
"Aaaaaaaahhhhhhhgghhh!"
The men again drew their guns and turned to from where that came from... only to stop when seeing that it was the rather ugly painting of of a man that was suddenly moving and screaming. They looked baffled at what they were witnessing, unable to process how a paining could do such things. Then the painting screamed one final time, before the paint stated to liquify, flowing down like a waterfall and leaving behind a blank canvas.
"What is going on here?" one man asked, looking utterly perplexed.
"Sir!" one of the men called, having looked out of the window. "What is going on out there?! Look! Look!"
Alarmed that the men would be forgetting their training like that, Blair walked over to the window and witnessed quite the spectacle. Beams of light were shooting into the sky up from some place in Westminster further south, with the sky itself being tinted in strange colors. Even though there were little clouds, lightning was arcing through the sky while strange balls of light were zooming away in all different directions.
"Is this Judgment Day?" one man wondered, looking quite scared.
"Prime Minister, we..." Madam Bones tried to explain.
"No, I have a good idea what happened. You declared the contract, which is the very basis for the Ministry of Magic, to be broken, don't you?" Blair said, realizing that the day now was going to hell.
"How did you...?" She was pretty sure she had not told the Prime Minister.
Blair knew that now that the cat was out of the bag, it was time to lay the cards onto the table. "We better get together with my predecessor. There is lots to talk about. And we have to do it fast, because the situation is about to get much more complicated... But first... why my office?"
"We honestly felt it's the one place our enemy would not suspect and we could warn you right away," Madam Bones admitted.
No, don't question it, Blair thought to himself, knowing he had more important things to do.
o
"How dare they...? HOW DARE THEY?!" Voldemort made little secret of his anger.
Everyone had fled the Wizengamot Chamber when the energies from the broken contract became stronger. No one knew exactly what kind of effects the contract being broken would cause, but considering how many things were tied to the Ministry itself, the effects had to be far-reaching and also diminish the worth of the Ministry significantly. Not to speak of the fact that Voldemort could not claim to be the legal government with the basis of the Ministry being gone.
It was a whole bundle of reasons why Voldemort was angry and he had to use every ounce of his willpower not to lash out at anyone in sight.
Taking the Ministry had been painfully easy. Far easier than it should have been. That entrance getting unlocked all of a sudden when they had been busy with trying to force their way in had been very suspicious, so he had ordered some of his people to investigate. They then had marched through, priority being to catch Bones. However, then this had happened.
"Master!" That was Barty running to him. "Master, the enchantments tied to the Ministry..."
"Get to the point, Barty! How bad does it look?!" Voldemort wasted no time.
"Very bad, Master. Over the centuries those fools tied countless enchantments to the Ministry. If not set up by a private person or an institution with no Ministry involvement, it will fail. And they do... one after the other..." Barty himself was horrified what that did mean. "It will completely rip that Statute of Secrecy apart."
Voldemort's sharp nails dug into his own hand so hand that some blood was leaking out. "My rule... They would rather salt the earth..." -Boooom- That was a distant detonation, echoing through the corridors. "And they did not only do that..."
Barty was honestly fearing for his life.
Thankfully for everyone involved, Bellatrix arrived just then with a way for Voldemort to vent in the form of a bound captive. "My Lord! We caught this worm here! He is the one who let us in, but he's refusing to talk!"
Bellatrix threw the man at Voldemort's feet. It was Mr. Stone, who had not been careful enough after freeing the way for the Death Eaters as per Umbridge's instructions. Voldemort looked at him like he was ready to kill him horribly. "So, you are the one sabotaging the Ministry for us. Lord Voldemort however instantly sees when someone is just a lackey. Speak, who do you work for?!"
"I... I can't!" Mr. Stone pleaded, not having thought he would land in such a fix.
"You can't? Lord Voldemort has ways to make you cooperate," Voldemort said darkly while raising his wand.
What followed was too horrible to put into words. It was way worse than Voldemort just using the Cruciatus Curse as it was Voldemort's goal to make Mr. Stone wish that he were dead instead of going through this. It was not only the sheer brutality of it, but also how creative Voldemort was. Even the most hardened Death Eaters became a bit concerned when Bellatrix looked like she could have an orgasm the longer she was watching.
Finally, the wish for this to end was greater for Mr. Stone than the fear what the vow would do to him. "It's Umbridge! Arrgghh-h-h..." A fountain of blood erupted from his mouth and he was dead.
"An Unbreakable Vow..." Voldemort knew the signs, having in the past tortured people into breaking the vow, with all the consequences.
Voldemort had exhausted most of his anger, so he was back to being able to function properly. "I'll deal with that Umbridge woman later." -Boooom- Another explosion. "Try to get that under control and save what you can!"
...all throughout the British Isles...
The inhabitants of London were either shocked or mesmerized by the spectacle that was taking place in and above southern Whitehall. However the spectacular light show which was showing the constant unraveling of all the enchantments tied to the Ministry of Magic was just the most visible part of what later would be called the start of a new age - in a way how the detonation of the first nuclear bomb started the atomic age.
It became painfully visible to many on the magical side in how many things the Ministry was involved in. In some cases literally.
Such as in the case of the Leaky Cauldron. For an absurdly long time, the pub which also acted as the entrance to Diagon Alley had been hidden behind an enchantment. Tom the barman - who was still keeping his pub open due to it being the entrance to the alley - had no idea that the enchantment was actually tied to the Ministry. Its failure was heralded by what felt like the very ground being close to a coughing fit.
And then... people on the street stopped and pointed at the strange pub which all of a sudden had appeared out of nowhere. For a short moment Tom was in denial, until suddenly a number of very ordinary people - people he was dead sure didn't have an ounce of magic in them - just walked in through the entrance door into the empty pub.
Oh, this is not good, was the first thought going through his head.
In King's Cross Station meanwhile, the police was doing their hardest to restore order. People, after all, were naturally scared when the station all of a sudden seemed to widen and a completely new platform appeared while at the same time a seemingly bricked-up wall crumbled away, revealing the entrance to said platform. Not to speak of entirely new train tracks appearing out of nowhere.
That would become a headache for a number of people, that was certain.
In Wales, panic broke out when all of a sudden the enchantments concealing the dragon preserve failed utterly. It was only thanks to the quick intervention from Downing Street that stopped twitchy high-ups in the Royal Air Force from giving orders to bomb a myth having become reality into oblivion. As dangerous as those animals were, better have them there and under control than running around wild.
Charlie Weasley for his part didn't know any of this, He was being busy with all hands on deck - which did included his wife Margaret - to ensure that the enchantments which did keep the dragons in check and in the area were recast by them before the version from the Ministry failed utterly. That was the priority and they reasoned that it already was too late anyway for any concealment or redirection magic, the damage being done.
There were countless other things happening throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland. While some were big, many were small, like buildings suddenly appearing out of nowhere.
That however meant little, since the government and MI-X had their hands full. They knew the day would come, but it still felt like a shock was going through the country and the whole world. All field agents were being busy with trying to attend to problems before they could become fires and the best way of doing this was to have normal authorities cooperate with them.
Needless to say, that the people working behind the scenes also were getting severely stressed. Especially those one the phones.
"No, don't send the riot police! Those people are not anarchists, regardless what they look like!"
"You stopped them in time? Good."
"What was the Ministry thinking, putting that in the middle of a residential area?"
"Put down before serious injuries? Of course that thing had to escape..."
It was highly chaotic, though the one being stressed the most was the Prime Minister. After giving his predecessor Major the job of revealing to now ex-Minister Bones what really was going on, he had started right away to try and somehow get the situation under control. Needless to say, he started to get an idea of how it felt to be a Prime Minister during wartime.
Oh, not to speak the conversation he'd had with the Prime Minister of the Republic of Ireland, since the Ministry had continued to claim control over all of Ireland even after independence, meaning the mess was happening there as well. While Mr. Ahern of course was in the know, Ahern had warned him that coming changes would be pretty much permanent, since once the public in Ireland knew the facts, they would not accept control of magical matters from London to resume.
As if the whole mess with Northern Ireland was not bad enough already.
Not to speak that everything that was happening was even in such a short time already being reported to other countries. Such was their times where technological progress would cause news to spread really fast. He knew the other heads of government were right now as busy as he was after he had told them what had happened.
It felt rather intimidating that from one day to the other, a new age had been forced upon them.
As hectic as things were there however, it was nothing compared to the atmosphere at the ICW in Switzerland. Explosive was only starting to describe it.
Despite it only having happened a mere two hours ago at best, news of what was happening was already going all throughout the non-magical world. Many in the ICW had been caught on the wrong foot, having forgotten how utterly effective modern non-magical communication was. Fact was that it had utterly shredded the Statute of Secrecy and there was no way to undo the damage.
While some wished the worst upon Magical Britain, others reminded everyone how no one had even offered support, even when the Ministry was nearing collapse. Thus they also had to blame themselves for the mess which was starting to destroy the entire system at this point.
The statute being shattered so utterly of course also was sending shockwaves through the other magical counties.
For many people in other magical countries, who were utterly apathetic to what was happening outside of their country's borders and paid such matters no mind at all, it came as an utter shock that the Statute of Secrecy was ripped apart like it was. Fear and insecurity gripped many when realizing that their very way of life was now in danger. The world had changed all of a sudden, and many no no idea how to react to it.
It was all a huge mess and no one had any plan how to react to it. Their entire world, which just yesterday had been well-ordered, was starting to collapse into itself.
...Hogwarts, later that day...
Of course the news of what had happened had reached Hogwarts as well. Many had expected the Ministry to fall, but had not expected it to have such far-reaching consequences. Right when it had happened, it had felt like a small earthquake was going through the castle. While the enchantments on Hogwarts itself and its grounds were not connected to the Ministry, and thus stayed intact, any enchantment in the surrounding area was fading away fast.
There was no way the school could continue with business as normal after that, and like in the rest of Magical Britain it now was in crisis-mode. The faculty had their hands full with that and told the students to stay inside, even threatening to restrict them to their dorms should order be disrupted.
It was unusual to see the great hall being so full outside of mealtimes. House lines had blurred completely and the students were constantly talking. At the same time, also unusual, owls were constantly coming and leaving, again showing that those were not normal times at all. Instead, everyone knew by now from the information that was coming in piece by piece that this was the end of an era.
It felt kind of strange, since while a massive upheaval was happening, it was not like in history books, where it seemed like the entire world changed from one second to the next. And yes, while the foundation of magical world, on which it had rested for almost 400 years, was crumbling away at an alarming rate, from their direct perspective, only little seemed to have changed.
They were still the same, the sky was still blue and Hagrid's chickens still laid eggs.
However, looking even a little deeper showed the whole drama of all of this.
"Man, this is all insane," Seamus said, looking like he was out of his depth. "We knew the Ministry would fail, but not in such a spectacular fashion. -sigh- My Ma took that quite badly, writing me right away."
"Yes, failing and taking everything else with it," Susan Bones admitted, looking pale while holding a letter that had just arrived. "It's a wonder Auntie Amelia made it out of there alive. But why do that?"
Those sitting nearby knew Susan's aunt had given her niece a short summary by letter of what had happened. "I guess she simply felt it was the lesser of two evils. You know, better than Voldemort getting a Ministry he could use for his purposes," Padma said, frowning. "Though, outing Magical Britain to the entire world..."
"I know, they must have felt the situation to be really hopeless to accept that kind of collateral damage." Susan didn't even want to imagine the amount of stress and pressure her aunt had been under. "While the whole war is looming over us, I'm now also afraid what will happen with us once this is all over."
"Crap, I hadn't even thought of that..." Seamus all of a sudden being worried. "Not not speak of the fact that many in Ireland already hated being ruled from London. I'm afraid what will happen now that that power is gone."
Susan understood his worries. "No way they'll ever again accept what they see as foreign rule..."
At a different table, three second-year students were talking about their own experiences.
"And it felt for a moment like someone was trying to squeeze me into a cube. I would have thought the worst if not for everyone around me also feeling it," Marvin admitted to his friends.
"You got off lightly," Magdalena reminded her friend. After all, several others had barfed, including herself. "I'm still thinking about what the teacher told us that was."
Indeed, a teacher did explain to them after a while that the pain everyone had felt was the Trace being strained severely by the Ministry collapsing. It was only due to the fact that the Trace was a magic significantly predating the Ministry that it had not vanished entirely. However, all of the improvements woven into it over the centuries were gone.
That was the pain all of the underage students had felt; the Trace being reduced to its very core. In effect it not only meant that it was significantly weakened, but also that the other end wasn't connected to anything at all. After the Ministry having lost the right to monitor underage citizens of Magical Britain, no one else at the moment was doing the job. It meant that curently the Trace was pointless.
"Kind of scary once you think about how they were constantly monitoring us." Mark shuddered at the idea.
"I'm more concerned what will happen now, with the Ministry gone..." Magdalena looked a bit scared at the idea.
"Oh-uh... I hadn't even thought about that yet." Now Marvin did look a bit concerned.
Should I feel concerned that I'm far less scared of that? Mark wondered. The Ministry had never touched his life much, and after the trouble it had made for Harry, Mark felt very little about it collapsing.
At another table meanwhile...
"It has become a madhouse. Not even after Umbridge was thrown out did we have such constant owl traffic," Ron remarked, watching the constant coming and going of owls.
"Think about it; the entire way of life of Magical Britain has come to an end. Of course parents and students alike are scared. Well, if they were invested in it, that is," Daphne reminded Ron.
Indeed, while all students were concerned about the future, the students from non-magical families were not actually scared. Perhaps it was due to them growing up under a different system, which was perfectly intact. To them the Ministry was just something annoying you had to deal with a few times a year. They had lives outside of the magical world. Meanwhile, those who had lived their entire life in it were screwed and thus had reason to worry.
"Now that you point it out... Maybe I think different because despite being from a magical family, I spent a lot of time outside of the magical world," Ron thought aloud. He had to admit that neither Ginny nor himself had a typical upbringing in a magical family, having mingled with the non-magical world early on.
"Well, I get what Daphne is talking about. It's really scary when the way you have known things are is suddenly is no longer valid," Neville added, due to his family's position having a better idea about the matter.
"I think the Statute of Secrecy being blown to pieces is the bigger worry. Now the entire world knows about magic and no way that can be undone," Hermione reminded everyone, looking at a letter that had been sent to her. "From my parents. They've been monitoring the situation and say it has become an utter madhouse... And that not only means the United Kingdom."
"Ah yes, we talked about it," Dudley remembered. "It's after all the 90s and news spread like wildfire. Can only imagine how the other magical countries will take the Ministry busting open the secret like that once they get the news."
"There will be lots of finger-pointing and accusations, but that won't undo what happened.." Millicent had a good idea that many of the magical countries would be steaming mad. "Though, I guess the Minister fully accepted they would nail her to the cross as a scapegoat."
"We already know its utter chaos on the magical side. How is it on the other side?" Ginny wondered, the question being directed to Hermione.
"According to what my parents had gathered, it's mostly confusion right now, but that is sure to change." Hermione grimaced a bit at imagining what would follow. "There already are the first voices asking some really hard questions and you can only imagine how much worse it will get once the implications have sunk in after the confusion."
Harry for his part imagined a different scene. "I just imagined a TV broadcast where some wizard openly acts like everyone without magic are dumb morons. That would go over really well. Though, of course people will be more concerned about the whole hidden society thing."
"Yes, that will go over so well..." Millicent could imagine how many cans of worms that would open.
"I wouldn't want to be the Prime Minister, either, since Downing Street knew for a long time," Harry added. "Man, this is like the rug being pulled from under everyone's feet. I don't think we can even imagine the scope of what's to come."
"An apt observation," Luna observed. "Though, we should keep our mind on what the enemy will do, now that the situation has changed so drastically. After all, a cornered beast is even more dangerous."
"Do they even understand that the number of their enemies just went up by a huge margin and that their goal is now pretty much impossible?" Neville wondered, imagining how tiny the forces of the Death Eaters looked compared to what now could be brought to field against them.
"Reasonable people would get that, but they are not reasonable. They are fanatics who are firmly set in their ways. They won't stop fighting until they are utterly defeated," Daphne reminded everyone.
"Daphne's right that fanatics are not known to be reasonable. Can you imagine Voldemort sitting at a mediation table?" Dudley said, finding the mere idea utterly bizarre.
"At least we know all of that stuff is way too big for us to do anything about," Ron said, seeing the bigger picture by imagining it like huge game of chess. "We should concentrate on what we can do."
"And that reminds me, how long will the school drag their feet before realizing that any chance for lessons is now over?" Harry wondered aloud.
That was a question they all honestly asked themselves.
...the next day...
This... was not how Draco had imagined it would go.
With the sacking of the Ministry, Draco had imagined his father being freed and then treated like a hero of the people; a martyr who had given everything, including his freedom, for the right cause. He had imagined the great welcome Lucius would get once returning home, his head held high with pride. That was how Draco had imagined this moment.
Of course, reality was an entirely different story.
For one thing, the whole thing was not taking place at their home, but instead in front of a dirty hovel almost right next to a Muggle garbage dump. Next, there were only four people present: himself, Pansy, his mother and his father. Pansy was only being present due to both of them having become paranoid that something bad could happen if being separated, thus they had insisted.
Topping this all off was the sheer condition Draco's father was in, and for which had had gotten no treatment at all.
The once proud Lucius Malfoy now was an utter wreck. Instead of the fine robes he had worn in the past, what he now was wearing looked like something you would expect on a hobo, and it was just as dirty. His once well-groomed hair looked like an utter rats nest, while his skin had become deathly pale. His father also had lost a concerning amount of weight, his face now looking like little more than a skull with skin on it and his shabby clothes hanging on his thin frame.
As if to complete the horrible picture, Lucius was constantly trembling, like his muscles were unable to relax, and the hand which once had held a wand with a confident and steady grip was now trembling so hard that it was doubtful that he every again could hold a wand, and even there was less of a chance he actually use one properly.
"Father?!" Draco was not even hiding the horror he felt at seeing Lucius in that condition.
"D-D-Draco, I see you a-are well..." Lucius' voice had changed as well, not only being weak, but now sporting a stutter.
Draco felt his horror grow. "The Ministry. Did the Ministry...?"
"N-no... The Dark Lord's p-punishment. He..." It looked like there was a sudden spike of phantom pain and Lucius held his left arm, grimacing even though nothing was wrong.
Narcissa knew she had to explain. "Draco, we shielded you from it, but the Dark Lord was very displeased with your father's failure and punished him severely. Each week, like clockwork, he would use the mark to punish your father severely. And it..."
Narcissa was fighting for words and Draco knew it was the regular torture which had reduced Lucius to such a wreck. Even worse, Voldemort could do the same thing to Pansy and himself, due to the damn mark on their forearms.. The idea alone was frightening.
The Draco realized something. "But then why are we here? Is this...?"
"M-my punishment is n-not over..." Lucius stammered, looking haunted.
"The Dark Lord has decreed that your father is forbidden from getting any help from anyone in our society, which does include us, and that he is to live in this hovel and sustain himself from what he can dig out of the nearby garbage." Narcissa made no secret how horrified she was by that further punishment, unable to hold back the tears.
Draco had no idea what happened next, only that when he was able to get a clear thought again, he again was in the room he shared with Pansy, the girl looking frightened out of her mind.
"Draco... I... That is horrible. I... I watched my parents become utterly uncaring and depraved, and now seeing how the Dark Lord punishes even those loyal to him..." Pansy was struggling to find the right words for it.
"That's what's in for us if we don't get out of here..." Draco now had no illusions.
"But Draco, what about this?" Pansy asked in despair, pushing up her sleeve to show the damning mark.
Draco knew that was a massive problem. "We'll find a way. Somehow..."
o
"So someone killed Nott and several others before we could reach the cells in their prison facility?" Voldemort asked again.
"Sadly, yes my Lord. The culprit is dead as well now, preferring to go down in battle. It was an ordinary guard deciding on his own that he didn't want them to get free," Barty reported, looking disappointed with that outcome. "The only reason we got Malfoy alive was due to him being imprisoned in a far less secure location."
Voldemort snorted. "Which shows that Lucius' worth has even declined in the eyes of our enemies. Good thing that his punishment will continue for years to come. As for Nott... Well, too bad for him."
If Barty was being disturbed by how coldly Voldemort was brushing off the death of one of his oldest followers, he didn't show it. "He will be missed, though perhaps not by his son. No matter, his estate, due to the son having renounced the family, will be used for a better cause."
Right at the moment they were both walking to a destination in the Department of Mysteries, being guided by Rookwood, who knew the department very well after having worked in it for a long time. They had been inspecting the damage done by sabotage and Voldemort had been angered by how many useful things were ether destroyed, or missing outright. It felt like the enemy was doing this out of pure spite against him.
Their conquest of the Ministry had been a hollow one, and while gaining they certain advantages, it was not the killing blow Voldemort had hoped for. Worse, he had followed the news of the Statute of Secrecy being shattered. He was smart enough to understand the implications and that the world would change utterly; a wisdom he doubted many of his followers held. However, that problem had to stand back for the time being.
That, and he still was angry enough that thinking straight was being difficult. He only looked calm on the outside.
Finally, they entered the hall which held the infamous veil of death. Unlike other things, it still was intact, but Voldemort looked at it in disgust. "How utterly hypocritical of them to preach they represent the people while keeping an artifact of pure death."
"Master, I thought you would like something that was solely created to cause death?" Barty was a bit surprised that Voldemort disliked the veil.
"Barty, Lord Voldemort wants to cause death on his own terms. An artifact that kills indiscriminately is thus not in our interest," Voldemort explained to Barty while still looking at the veil like seeing something utterly disgusting.
Barty had no idea that the veil was triggering Voldemort's deep-seated fear of death (namely his own).
That moment, Alecto and Amycus walked in, pushing between them a wheelchair holding a person. "Master, as ordered we are bringing that Umbridge woman to you. It was not easy, but we managed to get her while St. Mungo's was being evacuated," Amycus reported.
"Ah yes..." Voldemort suddenly was calm. "I was expecting you."
Umbridge for her part had prepared herself ever since those two Death Eaters had taken her, but being face-to-face with Voldemort herself still was unnerving even for her. "I feel honored to finally meet you. Color me surpised you ordered my presence."
"Surprised?" Voldemort gave her an interesting look. "You can't be that surprised, considering your inside man worked really hard to make conquering the Ministry easier."
Umbridge couldn't help but look a bit smug. "Oh, so he did talk? Well, too bad for him. Though I had hoped to present to you the fruits of our labor in person."
"Hmmm, yes, a pity indeed." Voldemort was still calm but Barty knew better and put a few meters between himself and his master. "Surely, you aspired to do Lord Voldemort a favor with your actions?"
Umbridge went right into that trap. "Yes, indeed. Helping you was the correct thing to do and I am aspiring to become your faithful subject."
"Liar..." That calm word from Voldemort made Umbridge shut up. "You have done all of it for just one purpose: trying to butter up Lord Voldemort so that you would be part of the new regime. But Lord Voldemort knows... he always knows. Your ambition knows no bounds and you have no loyalties."
"No, you misunderstand..." Umbridge tried to save the situation.
"Silence!" Voldemort hissed. "You would backstab me once it would give you an advantage. You are only loyal to yourself and thus you have no place in the new society." Voldemort the looked to the veil. "I'm not kidding, Madam Umbridge. Lord Voldemort can not tolerate any treacherous elements."
"No...NO!" Umbridge panicked when her whole wheelchair together with her levitated off the ground and then was flung towards the veil. "AAAAHHHhrrghh-..." Her scream stopped when she vanished into the veil.
"Wow..." Alecto said in awe, feeling that their Master had shown style with this execution.
Voldemort then looked to Barty. "Barty, by tomorrow I want this veil to be disenchanted and destroyed. Its mere presence offends me."
o
Tony Blair really wished he could get a good pint of ale right now. He had just gotten out of a meeting with representatives for London, and they had reported to him how things in the capital had grown very confused. That was little wonder when many things that hadn't been there before suddenly popped up, the most crass being a whole, archaic shopping district.
And not to speak of all the sightings of magical creatures all over the country which before had been kept hidden, Blair thought. Thank all what's holy we are not in America, otherwise we also would have to deal with tons of gun nuts thinking they could go on safari in their own country.
Right now it was still more confusion than anything else, but already the first voices appeared who were demanding answers. Blair knew the truth was not something the public would like and that there would be intense feelings of betrayal and accusations of deceit as well as more questions how many things, many possibly be horrible, had been swept under the rug by the magical side, with the government and law enforcement being impotent to do something about it.
And that was without opening the can of worms that was the memory alteration. That would cause outright paranoia and anger to explode, and even the calmest voices would call it trampling all over human rights. He knew for sure that his term would go down in history, though it was left to be seen if he would be remembered as another Churchill or another Chamberlain.
Enough for now, the light on the phone is telling me that the conference call is waiting... With that thought, he pushed the button that activated the speaker phone, connecting him to the other heads of government.
"Thanks for agreeing to this on such a short notice, especially you, Mr. Clinton," Blair apologized as soon as everyone was connected.
"No, don't apologize. While I wish my final term would have been peaceful, duty is a harsh mistress who accepts no apologies. I know how serious this is because I'm in nearly constant crisis meetings with people from MACUSA," Bill Clinton, the American President, told Blair.
"Oh dear..." said Helmut Kohl, the German Chancellor. "I know your pain, since I'm pretty sure my time in office will be over next year. There also is great unrest in Germany and I honestly dread once the wider population learns of Grindelwald and his role in Wold War II."
Blair knew everyone, himself included, grimaced when imagining how that would go down. Once it would come out that there was a magical counterpart to Hitler who was just as horrible, he felt that the people of Germany would react poorly to that revelation. That was sure to put a huge strain onto relations between both sides.
"I don't even want to imagine, how we would have gotten caught on the wrong foot without being forewarned," said Jacques Chirac, the President of France. "It still is worse than we had imagined. We will be hard-pressed to keep order in our countries."
"To be honest, we don't envy you for your position, Mr. Blair. You after all also have to deal with the hostilities in your country on top of the world as we know it being changed forever." That was added by Wim Kok, the Prime Minister of the Netherlands.
"The troubles we have in the United Kingdom are something we are working on. We have to work hard that what right now is still confusion and wonder doesn't turn violent," Blair reminded everyone.
"Isn't that true. I'm already getting reports that there are first small groups that are spreading that we were the puppets of the magicals. They are trying to paint them as real-life Illuminati who are controlling the world," Clinton said with a sigh, perhaps a bit disillusioned with his people.
"Yes, it will be hard work, since many people will feel betrayed by such a massive conspiracy of secrecy. Much will change..." Kohl said, knowing first-hand from German re-unification how quickly radical changes in circumstances can turn ugly.
Tony Blair for his part knew that his country would get the worst of it and that his entire term as Prime Minister was going to suck.
...Hogwarts grounds, November 22nd...
If anything, the atmosphere inside Hogwarts had become even more tense over the past several days. There still were no regular lessons, since the teachers were all way too busy with the sheer scope of what was happening that they could even think about that. Owls for teachers and students alike were coming and going constantly and totally out of normal mail call times.
While the teachers were being busy with doing what they could do from Hogwarts to help with salvaging what was left and get at least some semblance of order back, the students were busier than ever with preparing themselves for whatever was coming. But.. they also were damned to wait for whatever was coming their way. The atmosphere inside the castle had become unbearable, thus even fleeing to just outside the front gate, despite the cold and wet weather and teachers telling them to stay inside, was a relief.
Nine students for their part had done so right at the moment.
"I tell you, the teachers have no idea what they are doing. I honestly didn't think I would see the day Professor Slughorn looked so helpless," Millicent said, remembering how utterly out of his depth Slughorn had looked.
"Yes, and McGonagall looked stressed to no end due to being busy with helping to put out so many fires," Ginny added, remembering how tired their Head of House looked. "They are so busy that they have no idea what to do with us."
"No, they do know what to do, but they are afraid of making that decision," Luna added, the light reflecting off her glasses making her look somewhat unearthly.
"Yes, because they know once that decision is made, there is no going back. Kind of understandable, considering it would wipe away all they have known all their lives." Neville knew that while officially the Headmaster would make the decision, he couldn't do so without the other teachers.
"Meaning that until they finally get over themselves, we are sitting here..." Harry added while looking at the distance. "I have a strange feeling this will come to bite us..."
"Mate, please don't tempt fate! That always ended badly for us," Ron reminded his friend.
"I would say that superstition, but after all what we went through..." Hermione honestly could not deny that fate had been a bitch to them way too often and even she now felt they should not ask for it.
Sadly for them, fate right at that moment decided to be an utter bitch to them.
"Guys? It feels strangely cold." Dudley had a bad feeling about that, something he had pushed down the memory hole trying to come back up.
"Yes, and I thought fog during this time of the year only is present in the morning," Hermione added, pointing at the fog bank that was starting to build up in the distance.
"What, sudden fog?!" All of a sudden Harry was highly alert and looked around quickly. "The light seems to get dimmer, the colors start to look a bit washed out... CRAP!"
"Harry, what...?" Ginny wondered when Harry pulled out his wand. "What is going on and why is Dudley suddenly so pale?"
Harry knew that Dudley and himself were the only ones present who had direct experience with the effects, but that sadly was about to change. Harry for his part had morbidly wondered when such a confrontation would happen, since he knew his luck and was very sure he would run into those monsters a third time in his life - and each time had been horrible.
"Dementors..." Dudley still on occasion got nightmares about the dementor almost ten years ago. He thankfully had not been directly confronted with those monsters the second time, but he knew his luck was now running out.
"Oh shit..." Ron cursed while everyone drew their wands. "Just look at the size of the fog bank, and it's still growing. How many do you think are in there?"
Hermione paled a bit when she recalled all she knew about dementors. "Judging by the size and how far the effects reach, I would guess, all of them. But... Voldemort wants to kill Harry personally, so why...?"
"Who says that he ordered it? Could very well be that those monsters decided now is the time to band together to get the main course," Harry said darkly before conjuring his Patronus, everyone else following suit. "Let's alarm the school!"
To say the tense atmosphere in the school was shattered was an understatement.
After all, glowing animals flying through the school and sounding the alarm that a huge horde of dementors was closing in onto the school was as horrible as it could get. The younger students panicked at the news, but the chaos was swiftly nipped out when the teachers that were not capable of conjuring a Patronus took charge and escorted the students to the best protected part of the castle.
However, this did not go for the Defenders of Hogwarts who knew the Patronus - which was many of them. Despite the fear many of them had of those monsters, they all drew their wands and made a run to the front gate to do what they had prepared for and defend Hogwarts from the enemy. The teachers who could do the spell as well met with them on the way, led by the Headmaster himself.
"You are willing to make a stand against a horde of dementors?" the Headmaster asked while they made haste to reach the gates.
"If we don't, we'll be deader than dead," Dean said, knowing what would happen should the dementors storm the school.
"Yes, it's either them or us. No way we can avoid that," Padma added while gathering her courage.
"Such courage..." Dumbledore was especially proud since only part of the group were Gryffindors, with all Houses making up the DoH. They reached the gates and soon enough glowing animals started to fill the air. "You did well to alert everyone... and that looks dreadful," Dumbledore said when looking at the growing fog.
"I wish more of the teachers could help..." Daphne said with a grimace when seeing that besides the Headmaster himself, only Flitwick, McGonagall, Snape and Moody could cast the spell. Shacklebolt knew it as well, but he now of all times was not in the castle. "Sir, you think it's all of the dementors?"
"I very much fear that is the case." Dumbledore knew even with their numbers they would be hard-pressed to prevail. "Voldemort couldn't have sent them for certain reasons. No, many forget dementors have their own goals and they have chosen this moment to abandon Voldemort. They must feel striking out on their own is more lucrative for them now."
Those in the know understood that not only was Harry the reason, but also Snape being endangered by all of this, that for once Voldemort surely was not behind this. All the Patronii flying around were protecting them from most of the effects, but the underlying feeling of dread was still there. And it was no just outside influence, since after all, how do you prepare for something like that?
"Look over there, the centaurs are retreating to the far side of the area. Away from us," Dudley observed.
"Smart of them," Moody said while his magical eye scanned the fog. "They know they can't fight dementors, so they get out of the way. My men are in the castle, since none of them can do the spell."
"This is a plane, wide and empty area between us and them," Ron said, trying to get his mind into order about this mess. "They'll attack us front on; they are arrogant enough to do so. We defend ourselves, but they'll try to break through and harm us directly."
"Something you can share with us, Mr. Weasley?" Flitwick asked, knowing that in such situations, the mind of the youngest Weasley son tended to come up with good and unexpected tactics.
Ron looked up. "Perhaps."
The dementors meanwhile were almost done with gathering.
Dumbledore was spot on that the dementors really had abandoned Voldemort. With the fall of the Ministry and the shattering of many very old enchantments, a completely forgotten effect which made dementors more restricted was broken as well. Having regained their full freedom, those monsters quickly came to a consensus that taking orders was not to their advantage and thus they had removed themselves from the alliance with Voldemort.
And as their first act, they would now overrun Hogwarts. Thing was, that souls being young and fresh while being filled with magic was seen as a delicacy by all dementors. Though, they were not dumb and expecting hard opposition, thus why all of them were gathering - though outright greed also was a big motivator for all of them to gather.
No one could understand the silent communication between dementors, but once they were ready, they advanced towards the school to take what tey felt was rightfully theirs.
"Get ready, there they come!" Moody warned when seeing with his enhanced sight a dark mass emerge from the fog.
"Shit, that's a lot of dementors..." Parvati cursed.
"Remember the plan." Part of Ron felt very flattered that everyone was actually listening to him. Even the teachers were going along with the plan - especially since they themselves had no better idea how to deal with this. "Send them forward now!"
On Ron's command the bright horde of Patronii were being sent forward. They were less in number than the dementors, but they hoped it would be enough. "OOOUUCHHIIiiiick!" The enraged howl of the dementors showed, that they had realized that it would not be as easy as anticipated. They were now majorly angry that someone was trying to deny them their meal.
Like a huge battering ram, they tried with brute force to break through the lines of the defenders. They failed and were repulsed, smoke starting to emerge from them, but they already were gathering for another attempt. They were determined to not be denied!
"Urgh! Compared to before this feels like someone trying to smash us into a wall!" Neville gasped, trying his best not to vomit. It was not helping that whispers of the worst memory were starting to creep in.
"Try to keep it together and remember the plan!" Harry warned while trying to just ignore the faint whispers in his mind.
Then the dementors tried another push to break through. Again they were repelled, but that and the faint smoke rising from them only seemed to make them even madder and thus even more dangerous. By now they not only were in deep fog, but the world seemed to have lost all of its color and the sky had become pitch-black. Together with the angry hows of the dementors it honestly felt like the end of the world.
"Shit, I feel like I could hurl," Kellah said with a grimace while trying to keep her Patronus stable.
"Try to keep it down!" Susan Bones called to her, knowing that if they messed this up, it would be game over for them.
Ron meanwhile worked hard to watch was going on. "It's working..." He then held up his free arm and others repeated the sign to spread the word.
Ron was banking on the fact that the dementors were blind. He made them use purely optical signs instead of calling what to do next, so that the dementors wouldn't understand what they were planning. The Patronii, while still blocking another frontal assault of the dementors, were shifting, to slowly encircle the dark mass. The hope was those monsters by now were so enraged they would suffer from tunnel vision.
"Chhhhhhhkkk" In the middle of it one dementor managed to slip through and made a beeline for Harry!
"Crap!" Harry couldn't recall his Patronus fast enough to defend himself against the monster, but... -Bapp!- A glowing horse smashed the dementor away, causing it to howl while flying back into the dark mass. "Ginny!"
"Thank me later!" Ginny called, while returning her Patronus into the formation. She would later admit to Harry that this had scared her to no end.
By this point everyone was hearing whispers of their deepest fears and most painful memories and it was clear that in a battle of attrition, the dementors would win, so the whole thing had to be be done in soon. The dementors at first didn't notice the circle closing around them, but they most certainly did when the circle was being tightened.
"They noticed!" Luna was far from her usual calm self, the painful memories feeling like constant needles in her mind.
Indeed, realizing now what their enemies were doing, the dementors went downright insane, for once feeling terror of their own. Unable to fly high enough to escape the encirclement, their only choice was to break out, and they were using all their strength for that.
"It's... it's not enough! Even with all of us!" Neville realized the problem.
"Harry!" Harry looked to were Ginny was calling for him. "We... Together?"
Harry needed a moment to understand what she was talking about, and he knew that perhaps was their only chance. "Guys, get over here! We have to try and do it together!"
His friends needed a moment before they understood. After all, the last time they had done what they were about to attempt had been over three years ago when Greyback had invaded Gryffindor Tower. They had not been able to replicate the feat up until this point, so they had no idea if it would work now. Though, they prayed it would work, since otherwise...
"Ginny, should this work, I'll kiss you senseless..." Harry then held out his wand. "Now... Let our powers combine!"
Five other wands touched Harry's and unlike all the other times they had tried, this time something happened. Something a bit more dramatic than the last time they did so. Bright white light erupted from the very point that all of their wands connected and surrounded all six of them. Then ribbons of light emerged, one from each of them, connecting them to their Patronii. Then, with another flash of light, the six Patronii were fused into one.
It however was different from the chaotic chimera they had created back during Greyback's attack. Yes, the creature that came out of it had six heads and six tails, but instead of a nightmarish mess, it had exactly four legs and the body of a creature that probably didn't exist. It also radiated power and the dementors all of a sudden howled in agony at the bright light radiating from this combined Patronus.
"Squeeze them! Don't stop! Squeeze them together!" Hermione called.
Despite feeling the fatigue, the appearance of this powerful protector gave the students and faculty new hope. Grounding their teeth together, them made their Patronii tighten the circle around the dementors. Those monsters by now looked like they were in serious pain, high-pitched screams escaping them while their dark cloaks seemed ready to ignite with just a spark.
The six-headed Patronus shot up into the air, and then dive-bombed directly towards the mass of dementors.
"AAAIIIIIIKKKKkkkkkk-" -WOAAASHHH-
Everyone had to look away when the mass of dementors ignited with a hot-white flash when the combined Patronus crushed them. The Patronii flew back to their creators as if to shield them from the bright light, the chimera Patronus gone as the Six each had their individual protector back. Only slowly did the brightness die down and they dared to look.
The dementors... were gone. In their place the ground was covered in a layer of ash, slowly dying flames feasting on the last scraps that weren't yet burnt. The fog and darkness were gone as well, the daylight contrasting hard with what had happened just moments ago.
Realizing that it was over, many students collapsed in relief and exhaustion... before plastering the ground with vomit.
Daphne was one of them, barely managing not the faceplant into her own vomit. "It's over... We are still here..." She was about to do the faceplant anyway when two arm saved her from that fate. "Huh...?"
It was Justin. "Can you move?" he asked carefully, wanting her to gain some distance from what had just come out of her.
"My legs feel... really wobbly." Daphne didn't like feeling so weak, but she was not too proud to admit she needed help, and she was more than willing to accept it from Justin. "Can you...?"
Justin didn't need to be asked and helped her.
Some meters away, Millicent watched the whole thing. "Man... Even after this... at least..."
"Let them have that. They worked hard for it..." Dudley said while helping Millicent to keep standing. "You need the hospital wing...?"
"Couldn't hurt... Feels like I could puke my insides out." Millicent hated feeling weak, but she felt safe in admitting it to Dudley, since she had such a deep trust in him.
The Six were a bit better off, but not much, since they too were exhausted and had been part of the stress-vomiting.
"Sorry, Ginny, but we have to wait..." Harry tried to tell his girlfriend.
"No, I wouldn't want to kiss you either after both of us barfed," Ginny said with a grimace of disgust. "Later, all right...?"
Neville meanwhile was trying to clean Luna's glasses with his shirt, since they had fallen off and into her own vomit, and right now none of them were strong enough for a single spell. "Eh, here, I hope that's enough..." He said while putting them back onto her.
"Eh, an interesting way of viewing the world... But perhaps I better wash them." It was difficult to gauge how much out of it she was.
Ron meanwhile was trying to get as much vomit as possible out of Hermione's bushy hair, but he knew it was pointless. "Sorry, but you need an actual shower to get that out."
Hermione knew it was a minor thing compared to the terrible fate they had just avoided, but she couldn't help it and sighed. "Can you help me with that?"
Ron's eyes widened for a moment before he understood what his girlfriend was asking for. "I... I'll make sure it'll be extra clean."
The faculty members meanwhile looked over the aftermath.
"That... was close. Way too close. Without what Mr. Potter and his friends have done..." Flitwick didn't dare to finish the thought, knowing what would have happened to all of them.
"I can't deny that..." Snape already dreaded reporting the incident to Voldemort. The Dark Lord would be red with anger, since not only would this have destroyed his wish to kill Harry personally, but also sullied Hogwarts in his mind. Voldemort after all was rather fond of the school itself.
Moody meanwhile snorted. "We would have been utterly screwed if not for the students having learned the Patronus on their own. Gives you an idea how things really are."
McGonagall gave the Headmaster a knowing look. "You know what this near-disaster means."
Dumbledore sighed, knowing too well. "Yes, we dragged our feet, but now the choice was made for us."
...the following day, Hogwarts great hall...
After yesterday's near-disaster of the school almost being overrun by dementors, any remaining sense of normality at the school was utterly shattered. That perhaps also explained why the students were told outright in the evening that they would not have to bother with the uniforms in the morning and just arrive in the great hall at eight in order to hear what the faculty had decided would happen.
Basically, everyone already knew what the decision would be, especially since they also had been told to pack their trunks, but they were waiting for it to be made official.
"So, he's going to say it?" Dudley wondered, him, Daphne and Millicent sitting with the Six since no one honestly gave a damn about House tables now.
"Dead certain." Ron knew the faculty had no other choice now, after Hogwarts almost getting overrun with dementors. "Granted, in the end end those monsters got smoked hard, but the Headmaster would be insane to tempt fate again."
"Not to speak of the fact that it showed painfully that keeping everyone in one place no longer is the safe thing. Not in such times," Luna added sagely, though it was painfully obvious how much the dementor attack had shaken her.
"I know for certain that my parents want me home, though they also know I won't stand down when push comes to shove," Millicent said. Despite not having been in contact with her parents, she knew what they would do.
Harry for his part remembered his words to the Headmaster. "He'll say it. He knows without Ron's plan and that combining attack..." Harry made no secret of the fact that something horrible had almost happened to them.
"I'm still getting gratitude for coming up with the plan, and it feels weird." Ron honestly felt the emotional opposites of the stress of almost getting soul-sucked and the flattering gratitude of the students to be emotionally draining.
"Just accept it and move on." Hermione this perhaps had been one of the scariest things in her entire life, which meant something considering the nasty events that rivaled it.
Ginny for her part Looked a bit tired. "I think I speak for everyone that sleep didn't come easy... Ah, and there he is."
Indeed, Dumbledore and the entire faculty had entered the great hall. Standing in front of the faculty table, the Headmaster spoke for all of them.
"Students of Hogwarts. Yesterday, all of you almost became the victims of one one of the most horrific of fates possible. To our great shame, the powers of the faculty - and that does include my own - was not enough to protect you from the horde of dementors. It took the Defenders of Hogwarts to tip the scales in our favor."
The students were very surprised how open Dumbledore was about that failure.
"There are no words that can express the sheer level of gratitude they deserve for fighting back against what seemed to be certain doom. I want to especially thank several certain students dealing the decisive blow which managed what was not done for many centuries: eliminate all dementors on the British Isles."
Everyone knew he meant the Six with that specifically. Though, no one said so out of respect, especially after yesterday.
"As yesterday showed painfully, we can no longer guarantee the safety of the students. Thus the difficult and unprecedented decision was made to close Hogwarts for the time being. This does not mean however, that we will send you back into danger. Security arrangements will be made with each of you before you will be ferried out individually."
The finality in those words felt like a heavy weight on everyone. This was the first time in history that Hogwarts was closing its doors and it was testament to how bad things had become.
"Well, that's it..." Daphne had expected this to happen for some time now, but it felt different now that it did happen. "Boy, my parents will try to lock me away for my own safety. But what's safe is such times? Ah, but we need to go. Professor Slughorn just made a sign for us to come to him."
The students quickly were organized into several lines. The Six however would not be joining any of those, since Shacklebolt called them over.
"You six will get special arrangements... As does Mr. Evans here," Shacklebolt said when see that mark had joined them as well.
"Urgh, Mr. Evans is my father..." Mark protested, but that fell onto deaf ears.
"Ah, so it means we are to continue what we were doing? Only now in full-time?" Ginny asked, though she had a good guess at the answer..
"Indeed, that is the case," Shacklebolt confirmed it. "Though the situation has changed considerably, the enemy is still out there and has to be fought. I myself resigned from my post - as pointless as it now has become - to concentrate on what's important."
"Mr. Shacklebolt, what do you think will happen, once Voldemort is defeated?" Hermione asked, her being at a loss what could happen due to all of this being too chaotic right at the moment.
Shacklebolt sighed. "To be honest, I don't know that, either. Everything I knew is gone. What comes next... Well, I guess time will tell."
to be continued...
Next Episode:
"In a Changed World"
Notes:
Here the notes.
You probably didn't expect Thicknesse to turn up, especially in such a role. But well, it has finally happened - the Ministry is toast. If you expected a big battle, then you probably didn't consider all the factors that make that nixed that.
Now for the consequences of said action. Yes, they had already expected this to break the Statute of Secrecy badly, but even they had not anticipated it to happen in such a spectacular manner. That's because over the centuries a LOT of crap was directly wired into the Ministry, so there now are lots of side-effects they didn't anticipate.
How do react when the world around you shifts so dramatically? Our protagonists have to accept there is little they can do about it.
In case you wondered what happened to Lucius, we now see the end result and Voldemort's continued sadism. Remember that Lucius busted his ass to get back into Voldemort's good graces and it didn't work. Draco and Pansy now only are more convinced to get out of there.
Did you honstly think Umbridge would get what she wants? All right, you saw it from a mile away, but it's still good to see it for real.
I bet you did NOT expect that. Yes, you most likely expected a battle at Hogwarts, but NOT that the dementors all banded together and attack the school to suck them dry. It gave me the chance to have the DoH give one final big show of how good they have become before the students all go their seperate ways due to the school being closed.