Chapter 11
The Dark Triad
(Opening song. Danger Danger by FZMZ feat. icy.)
(Austria, Midnight)
The ominous structure stuck out like a sore thumb in a remote location. Nurmengard Castle, an imposing fortress, loomed over expansive grounds, making it an intimidating sight to behold. The dark stone towers and walls rise high into the air, topped with sharp, jagged crenellations that look like teeth in the dim moonlight.
The only entrance to the castle is a heavy iron door set deep into the rock face leading to the dungeon. A moat surrounded the structure, providing an extra layer of security, and a thin, spiked metal fence lines the top of the battlements. In the highest tower sat the only prisoner of Nurmengard, Gellert Grindelwald.
About half a mile away, on top of a mountain, Galin observed the ground through the scope on his rifle, tracing the guards' moving patterns as they lazily patrolled their routes. He wore a set of metallic navy armor that covered his body, with a hood pulled over his head. The shadows from it only made his piercing blue eyes visible.
"So this is where Grindelwald is imprisoned?" Yuno questioned, gazing at the towering prison castle from a distance. He was dressed in dark green shinobi robes with long sleeves that were frayed with cloth with Eldritch runes on it, along with a black sash tied at his waist, and a turtleneck dickey that was pulled up only to show the top part of his face.
"Yep, Apparently it used to be his old base of operations. Now it's his prison" Arianna explained, her attire similar to Yuno's only red with a couple pieces of light armor on her shoulders, shins, and forearms. She had her hair silky white hair tied back into a ponytail
Yuno looked back at the castle with a raised eyebrow and let out an amused scoff "It's pretty embarrassing he's being imprisoned in his own hideout," he said fighting the urge to laugh.
"Very" Arianna mused. "Galin, how many hostiles are we looking at?"
"About 40 in total patrolling the outside of the grounds, so I'd say a little over ninety due to shift changes." He said, his rifle still trained at the castle.
"Tch, Might take a bit longer than anticipated, but it's doable," Arianna said as she put on a half-faced white mask, only making her mouth and eyes visible.
"What's the plan, then?" Galin asked, turning to look over to Arianna. Yuno looked towards them waiting for the plan as well
"Hmmm, think you can hit Grindelwald from here?" Arianna asked Galin looking at the cell window.
"It's a difficult shot to make, but if I get a proper angle to aim, I can make it." He told her, resting his rifle on a nearby rock and looking through the scope, training his sight on the tower where Grindelwald was being kept.
"What if we got him to look out his cell window? Would it be an easier shot to make?" Arianna asked
"You'd bet your ass it would," Galin said. "But didn't boss say she wanted this done quietly? You didn't elaborate on that Ari"
"You know how she is. Just said to 'make sure our cover wasn't blown' was all. She didn't give any other details on how we did it." Arianna explained.
"Ok, but still I just wanted to make sure we aren't going to piss her off," Galin said.
There was a long silence between them as they pondered how to approach. Yuno's eyes widen suddenly.
"I got an idea! What if we pinned this on the Death Eaters, by creating The Dark Mark in the sky once were done?"
Galin and Ari both look at Yuno, their interest piqued.
"That could go south pretty quickly though. The mark also notifies the Death Eaters to assemble at its location. We don't need more heat on our way out than in ." Arianna said crossing her arms.
"I'm banking on them showing up, actually. It's just a matter of timing," Yuno said
"Ok," she said with new interest "I'm all ears,"
"We cut off communications before we attack, do the job, then reconnect the communications and send an S.O.S for re-enforcements to the Ministry, and at the same time create The Dark Mark to call Death Eaters here," Yuno explains.
"And once the Aurors get here, they'll see the Death Eaters and pin the attack on them" Arianna realized.
"Exactly, If we set up Death Eaters as the culprits behind Grindelwald's disappearance, then Fudge will try to cover it up. Plus as a bonus, the Order will be trying to expose the ministry for covering up the incident, and also be sent on a wild goose chase to see where Tom is 'holding Grindelwald prisoner'" Yuno explained.
The two were silent as they thought about it. "Damn, you're evil," Galin said after a moment. Arianna nodded in agreement "It's a pretty solid plan, except for one thing. How exactly do we plan on disabling their communications?"
"That I have a solution for," Galin said as he tossed Arianna one of his pistols and a silencer.
"Ah, I see where you're going with this Gal. I turn invisible and start destroying The Floo Networks set up in the castle." Arianna mused as she held the gun up. "Since the bullets are the ones that are enchanted with Anti-Magic. It's just a matter of hiding the gun"
"See, I can be smart too," Galin said proudly, which resulted in an eye roll from both Yuno and Arianna.
"Still, how do we deal with communication by radio?" Arianna asked.
As if on cue the sky began to glow a faint green color, as Yuno chanted a spell. "Simple spell that changes the earth's magnetic fields slightly. Not very useful, but it'll block all radio waves for about an hour"
"Since when can you-" Galin started looking up at the sky
"Unlike you, I do the homework the boss gives us," Yuno retorted. Galin scowled and threw a snowball at Yuno, who quickly dodged out of the way.
"Alright, this plan is pretty solid actually, not a lot of margin for error once the fighting starts," Arianna said. "Yuno, you're with me. Galin, once the fighting starts, take the shot"
"Over and out Ari," Galin said laying down on the ground and placing his rifle on a rock, which now served as a support for its sleek black barrel. He got into position, lining up his sight to Grindelwald's cell. Yuno hopped onto Arianna's back as they sped to the castle, appearing on the outer wall in the blink of an eye.
"Stay here" Arianna ordered Yuno quickly making herself invisible.
She hopped over the side of the wall and began to search for the locations where The Floo Network was situated throughout the castle. Arianna, while invisible ran quietly throughout the castle grounds, her footsteps were barely audible.
After several minutes of searching, she was able to come across a small booth that was stationed near a wall. It had a Floo Network connected to it, with a guard stationed there.
"Poggers" Arianna whispered to herself in triumph as she slowly got closer.
She began to creep behind the guard silently, moving at an excruciatingly slow pace. It took all her willpower not to rush forward quickly and take the guard out. Once she was close, she stood in place, carefully reaching out to grab the guard, only to freeze as they suddenly spoke.
"I know you're there; I can feel your presence, " he said, his hand going down to his side, where a wand was holstered.
"Then you know you're already dead," she replied as she pulled the trigger on the pistol in her opposite hand. The silencer causing the pistol make a subtle "pff' noise.
The bullet hit the guard in the forehead and collapsed to the ground like a ragdoll. She exhaled a breath that she had been holding, as her body became visible again. She bent down, checking the body to ensure it was dead. Once she was satisfied that it was, she moved on, now turning her attention to the Floo Network. She emulated the powers of a dementor, its natural ability to draw in heat. She watched as the flame extinguished in the fireplace in front of her and began to move to the next one, repeating the process with the same results. Within the next few minutes, she was able to extinguish all of the Floo Networks that connected to the castle.
"And for good measure," Arianna said to herself.
She then fired a shot into the soot and wood of the extinguished fires. She nodded, satisfied with her work on the Floo Networks. She took a deep breath and disapparated.
"That takes care of the Floo Network, let's wreak some havoc!" Arianna said after she reapperated beside Yuno. .
"How should we go about doing that though?" Yuno asked, looking up at her.
"Loud, and flashy," Arianna says with a malicious look in her eyes. "The least we can do is give them a show before they all die."
Yuno chuckled, matching her expression, "Who should start the fireworks?"
"Youngest first," Arianna said.
(Hellfire FEVER 333 battle music)
On cue, Yuno's hands glowed a yellowish-green color and raised them above his head, and swung them down. Several meteors the size of basketballs conjured in mid-air, white-hot fire surrounding them as they began to rain down on the castle. They slammed into the ground around the castle courtyard or on the castle walls itself, exploding upon impact. Guards were sent flying through the air from the force, and some caught fire dropping to the ground, futilely rolling around to extinguish the flames. The castle guards from inside ran around and gathered in a frenzy, attempting to find the culprit behind this sudden attack.
"What the bloody hell is going on?!" One guard yelled, in the chaos. Some of the guards were attempting to put out the fires while others ran around in a panic, searching the surroundings for the attacker.
On the other side of the courtyard, Arianna front-kicked the wall, the force breaching and shattering the stone bricks to rubble. Her eyes blackened and she let out a powerful banshee-like scream, the sound forming into a concussive cone. The guards were sent rocketing backward and slamming against the walls as the sound hit their ears. Some of them outside the cone collapsed to the ground, having had their eardrums ruptured from the power of the sound, while those lucky enough to have their ears shielded, had the wind knocked out of them, their chest feeling tight as they struggled to breathe. A few of them out of the area effect pulled out their wands and began firing curses at Arianna.
"Stupefy!" one shouted, as a barrage of bright beams of red light shot from the tips of the guard's wands, hurtling towards Arianna at full speed.
Her eyes widened and she quickly moved out of the way, her reflexes helping her dodge the spells, with a series of flips, before regrouping and blitzing the group of guards. She brandished her dagger, which glowed bright green as she slashed through the group. Some of the guards from inside the tower fired curses and jinxes at her, but she used her speed to evade them, her form a blur as she took care of the guards along the other side of the courtyard.
"She isn't alone!" A guard shouted, to the others after noticing Yuno. He and his companions shot off various attacks in an attempt to hit him. "Get reinforcements!"
Yuno made a fast waving motion with his hand as several chunks of debris floated in mid-air, with a sickening yellowish-green aura around them, blocking the beams of light. Yuno closed his fist and the debris then condensed together into a watermelon-sized meteor. He made a punching motion in the air, and the meteor rocketed toward the guards, exploding in an inferno of white-green flames. The group of guards was completely incinerated as several more that were around them were flung through the air. The explosion made the whole castle shake, with one of the smaller towers crumbling.
More guards appeared from Yuno's left and fired more curses at him, one beam of light grazing him on the arm. He gritted his teeth and raised both hands as portals opened up behind him before he fell to the ground. Several dark green tendrils launched from the portal and lashed out at the guards, wrapping around them and slamming them into the walls with tremendous force. Yuno chanted in an otherworldly language and dispelled the effects of the stunning spell that hit him.
He stood up and looked at the havoc his spell caused. His eyes gleamed and widened with excitement as he watched the sight. The guards were being thrashed around like rag doll, before being thrown into the stone walls. Those who were caught in the tendril's grasp began pleading and begging to be let go to no avail as they were dragged into an inky black void.
"Go ahead. Have your fill, Cath" Yuno laughed evilly, as let out beams of eldritch energy from the palms of his hands that began to mow down the guards in waves and destroy parts of the courtyard in the process.
More guards rushed outside the castle trying to help their comrades. "Where's our reinforcements?!" One of the guards yelled
"I don't know! They should've been here by now!" Another guard responded, his tone nervous and his gaze going over to the carnage in the courtyard. He didn't want to face whatever hellspawn was causing this attack.
"The Floo Network isn't working! They cut off our communications!" A third guard said with a panicked expression on his face. Suddenly Arianna appeared in front of him, her eyes glowing blue. Before he could even react or even pull out his wand, he found himself frozen in place, his form completely paralyzed. Despite his mind being fully aware of his current state, his body wouldn't respond or move at all to his commands. He tried to scream, yell, or say something to his other allies, only managing to get out a soft squeak.
The guards instinctively reacted by firing spells at Arianna.
"Avada Kerdarva!" the one yelled, now full-on aiming to kill. She evaded the curse, and then quickly stabbed the two guards. She then sped off again to a different part of the courtyard.
She dodged the barrage of curses and spells fired in her direction, her movements too quick for the naked eye to follow. Weaving through the courtyard, like a snake slithering through a field, slashing through each of the guards with ease with her dagger. She quickly turned to a large group of guards on the walkway above and made a motion similar to blowing a kiss causing a giant plume of fire to erupt from her lips.
The guards above only had enough time to let out a scream of terror before they were engulfed in a wave of fire, the flames quickly setting their robes ablaze. One guard managed to dodge the inferno and aimed at Arianna.
"Bombarda" he cast but this time the curse was aimed at Arianna's feet. Her eyes widened as she was sent flailing back, hitting through a wall due to the explosion, the force of the blast knocking the air out of her lungs for a moment. She was quick to recover and get back up on her feet.
The guard above laughed thinking that he'd at least managed to land a hit on her, only to freeze when she looked up at him, and for a split second looked directly into her eyes. He fired another spell only realizing his hand was now missing, and Arianna stood by him twirling her dagger.
"Not a bad shot, for a magic thief anyway" she mused as she wiped some blood from a cut from above her eyebrow.
He gaped at her, his wide eyes staring at where his hand used to be. He looked up and saw an afterimage of Arianna from the courtyard disappeared. "Oh God!" the guard dropped to his knees and began screaming in pain as the realization of what happened kicked in.
"Unfortunately, it won't be him you'll be seeing," she replied coldly, making a quick stabbing motion at the guard's chest.
As she pulled her dagger out, the guard fell motionless in a lifeless heap. She turned her attention to a squadron of Auroas in a window along the tower, with their wands aimed at Yuno. She lunged towards the window and crashed through the tower, the impact causing the entire castle to tremble.
Grindelwald stumbled for a moment before regaining his balance. The sounds of battle reached his now-conscious ears, and he moved over to look out the window.
"What in Merlin's name was that!?" He muttered before looking out of the cell through the window and his eyes widened at the sight he witnessed in the courtyard. He saw the Ministries guards getting thrown around like rag dolls, the courtyard being set ablaze, and chaos taking over the once peaceful castle.
"Impossible." Grindelwald gaped in awe as he tried to comprehend the sight before him. He felt a pit in his stomach form as he observed the scene. The guards of his were being slaughtered effortlessly by a person no older than 11 years old who wielded magic he thought was only a myth. He couldn't believe the sheer power and brutality at such a young age as he heard the figure cackling manically at the chaos. It was horrific to watch, and it sent shivers down Grindelwald's spine to see such a small person do such a thing so easily and willingly unleash such malicious magic. He turned to hear more painful yells, as he saw a red blur snake through the courtyard, a streak of emerald green light slashing before guards as guard's silhouettes were sliced apart.
Suddenly a glint of light caught his attention in the distance. He narrowed his pale blue eyes squinting at the glint of light, trying to get a better view to see what exactly the source was.
"Bullseye" Galin said as he pulled the trigger. The shot rang out, even despite the chaos.
Grindelwald let out a pained cry as the bullet shot him in the shoulder, feeling as if a sharp hot iron rod had been driven into his skin. He clutched the wound as stumbled and fell forward against the wall, his breath becoming heavy and sharp, struggling to stay upright from the pain. He felt a wave of panic and dread wash over him as he realized that he could no longer feel the flow of magic in his veins. He had been disconnected from his magical source.
"No…..NO!" he roared.
He tried to feel for his magic, but it was as if there was a block and he couldn't reach it. Grindelwald let out a frustrated yell, the pain from his shoulder and the lack of magic causing him to sink to his knees. Meanwhile, Yuno heard the gunshot ring out and opened a portal that connected to where Galin had set up his sniper nest. Galin ran through the portal and appeared next to Yuno in the courtyard, holding the rifle in his hands.
"Target neutralized, Let's finish this!" Galin yelled his tone calm and collected despite the situation.
Yuno nodded in agreement. "Got it!"
Galin trained his rifle and shot at the squadron of guards that were rushing towards them, while Yuno fired a green void that fled from his hand. The ball then emitted a pulse of energy that forced the guard's feet to become glued to the ground.
The guards changed tactics and cast spells to protect themselves, but the bullets effortlessly pierced through their wards, leaving them defenseless against the barrage of bullets.
Once Galin finished the last of the guards in the group, he ran over to the castle entrance. He stepped into the main hall, where the last of the remaining guards were trying to prepare themselves for their attackers. When they saw Galin enter, they instantly aimed and started to launch spells in his direction.
Galin slid onto the ground, dodging the spells, and took out the rocket launcher that was on his back, firing it at the wizards on the stairs. The rocket whistled through the air, and slammed into the staircase, the explosion sending them flying backward and throwing the staircase up, breaking several of the steps in the process. As the dust started to settle, some of the wizards tried to get up, while others stayed motionless, either knocked out or dead.
Galin dropped the rocket launcher and retrained his rifle, reloading in the process.
The remaining guards, noticing that the rocket launcher was now out of commission, quickly began to aim their wands and cast spells at Galin, in an attempt to kill him where he stood. Galin continued to weave from cover to cover, managing to take a few guards out with each shot. However, a few spells did manage to hit him, and he grimaced in pain, but the Anti-Magic armor prevented most of the damage.
Galin continued to fire until he saw an inferno of Yuno's white flames come from the entrance of the castle. The inferno engulfed the main hall.
"Protego!" Galin yelled as a barrier of Anti-Magic formed around him, protecting Galin from the flames. The white fire crashed against the barrier and then fell harmlessly to the ground. The guards, weren't so lucky, screaming as they were consumed by the inferno.
A red blur ran past the guards near the destroyed staircase, taking each one down with a quick slash of emerald light. Arianna then began to run in circles in the middle of the hall.
Her speed was such that no one in the main hall was even able to get a grasp on what was happening until the fire began to be dragged inwards, transforming into a fiery vortex. Galin grabbed onto a pillar to stop himself from being dragged into the flaming vortex Arianna was creating with her speed.
Arianna came to a stop right by Galin as the carnage continued, grabbing onto him so she wasn't dragged in.
Yuno, who was standing at the entrance shoved his hands forward as the fiery vortex flew through the halls. Screams rang out as the remaining guards were pulled into the vortex of white flames. The bodies became nothing but mere shadows after passing through the fiery walls of the swirl. Yuno then clapped his hands together and the vortex exploded, the whole castle shaking as the loud 'boom' echoed through the mountains. The ceiling of the hall was blown off and debris rained down around the area of the mountain range. The blinding light forced Arianna and Galin to cover their eyes.
Then there was silence, an eerie quiet that was not peaceful, but unsettling. Galin slowly removed his arm from his eyes, blinking a few times as he let them adjust to the light. Once the light subsided Galin and Arianna saw a sea of black robes in front of them. Many of them were on fire, but all of them were motionless. The only sound that could be heard was the panted breathing of Arianna, Yuno, and Galin.
"Was that necessary!?" Galin asked breaking the silence, his tone laced with mild annoyance and exhaustion
"Well when you're dealing with the Ministry, you need to make sure you leave a lasting impression," Arianna joked between panted breaths with a subtle smirk.
He rolled his eyes, but a small smirk of his own tugged at the corner of his lips. "Right, right. Gotta make a big flashy entrance and exit, huh?"
Arianna gave him a playful punch on the arm. "Just make sure no one is alive. If this plan is going to work, we leave no survivors" Arianna ordered
Galin nodded, his expression becoming serious once again. "You got it. No survivors."
He began to look around the hallway, his eyes scanned over the various bodies lying motionless. The ones that were still breathing or moving were disposed of "Looks like you did most of the work already, though," he noted, glancing over at Arianna as pulled the trigger on his rifle aimed at a guard that was struggling to get away.
"What can I say? I like to be thorough," she replied casually as she stabbed a still-alive guard. The two turned to Yuno as he approached him, stepping over the heaps of charred robes on the ground
"Already checked the ones outside, anyone that survived the initial attack is dead," he said as he caught up with the group.
"Good. Less clean-up work for us," Galin said, a hint of satisfaction in his voice, glad that the job had gone fairly smoothly so far.
He turned to Arianna, "So, now what? We've dealt with all the guards, but what about Grindelwald?" he asked, his gaze fixed on her.
"Simple, break into his cell, interrogate him, and then send him to the boss" she stated.
Galin and Yuno nodded in agreement. "Let's get going, then. We only got a couple of hours left to get back to Hogwarts" Yuno warned as he heard the clock tower bell go off, breaking the eerie silence.
The trio walked up the spiral staircase, each step bringing them closer to the top of the tower. They moved quietly and efficiently, their footsteps barely making a sound on the stone steps. Galin took point, his rifle trained in front of him, while Yuno covered their six, leaving Arianna in the middle. As they reached the top, they stopped at the huge metal door that sat at the top of the stairs.
Galin reached for the handle and gave it a slight push, but the door didn't budge. "Locked," he said, a frown flickering across his face. "Any ideas?"
Arianna rolled her eyes and kicked the door clean off its hinges. "Strength of a giant remember?"
"Always got to take the fun out of it," Galin grumbled a bit disappointed as he was holding a lockpick in his hand.
The three of them entered the cell. There on the ground was Gerrelt Grindelwald, clutching his shoulder where he'd been shot and glaring at the three young wizards. Galin trained his rifle on him, ready to shoot if he tried anything. Grindelwald looked up at them as they entered, his eyes narrowing in a mixture of anger and disbelief. He grimaced slightly as he clutched his wounded shoulder, the pain evident on his face. He looked at Galin's rifle and his face twisted into a snarl.
"YOU SHOT ME!" he hissed at Galin.
Galin gave an impish smirk under his hood. "Yeah, I did. It was a pretty damn good shot too if I do say so myself," he replied smugly. "Not like you didn't deserve it, though."
Arianna stepped forward, her gaze locking on Grindelwald. "We've got some questions for you, old man," she said in a cold, commanding voice. "And you're going to answer them."
The dark wizard glanced between the three. "Who the hell are you!? What the hell are you!?" he growled, his voice tight with pain.
Arianna paused, she thought about just a couple of hours back about the conversation the golden trio had that she eased dropped on.
"You can call us ….The Dark Triad" she finally said with a smile. This got an eyebrow raise from both Yuno and Galin, but they didn't say anything.
Grindlewald's eyes widened at the name 'The Dark Triad'. He tried to keep his expression neutral, although the bullet wound made it hard to hide the fear and begrudging respect he had for the three.
"The Dark Triad," he repeated slowly as if testing the words on his tongue.
"You just come up with that name on the spot, or did a firstie at Hogwarts come up with that name for ya'." He chuckled dryly but grimaced again because of the pain he was in.
"Where's The Elder Wand?" Arianna demanded coldly.
Grindlewald's expression hardened again, his eyes narrowing. "The Elder Wand, huh?" he said in a low growl. "Why in the world would I tell the likes of you where it is?"
"Cause we'll get information out of you either way. So you can either tell us nice and simple, or we'll be forced to use more… arcane methods" she said coldly.
His expression twisted into a sneer at Arianna's words, but he could tell she wasn't bluffing.
"And who do YOU think you are?" he spat, his ego getting the better of him. "A bunch of kids, thinking you can threaten ME?"
"Yuno" Ariana said coldly. Yuno stepped forward and his hands began to emit a green-like wispy aura.
Grindelwald suddenly cried out in pain as Yuno probed his mind. He gritted his teeth, his face contorting in agony as Yuno delved deeper into his thoughts.
"GET...OUT...OF...MY...HEAD!" he yelled, struggling against the mental intrusion.
Yuno gritted his teeth as he stopped the intrusion. "Clever bastard, he's playing back old Quidditch stats. I could get to where the Elder wand is located, but it would take too long for the amount of time we have left"
Arianna crossed her arms, looking unsatisfied. "Damn it," she cursed under her breath."Guess this is why the boss wanted us to send him to her." she sighed in disappointment. "Worth a shot though. Do your thing Yuno, and let's get the hell out of here."
Galin nodded in agreement. "Agreed, this place is too frickin cold."
Arianna tossed Yuno her dagger, who then immediately sliced open his palm. Grindelwald watched with a mix of fascination and fear, as Yuno began to draw the pentagram on the ground with his blood around Grindelwald.
"What...what are you doing?" he asked, his voice wary and tense, but Yuno didn't answer, as he finished the drawing. The small figure then began to chant in otherworldly language.
Grindelwald eyes widened in horror as an inky black void began to form beneath him. He desperately tried to scramble away, but the pull of the portal was too strong.
"No! No! Stop!" he cried out, his voice filled with terror as he desperately struggled against the inevitable. The three of them watched as Grindelwald was slowly pulled into the portal, his screams echoing through the cell. Arianna's expression remained cool and detached, while Yuno's face held a look of concentration as he continued to chant. Galin simply looked relieved that the job was almost done.
"Enjoy the ride, old man," Yuno taunted as Grindelwald was pulled through the portal his screams faintly echoing once the portal closed.
Arianna let out a deep sigh. "Finally, that's done. That was more trouble than it was worth," she yawned, sounding both relieved and exhausted.
The three of them made their way out of the tower, their footsteps echoing in the now-empty castle. As they walked, Galin let out a scoff. "That old fart wasn't very helpful, was he? We didn't even get a single useful piece of information."
"We knew going in he wasn't going to be cooperative," Arianna said.
"Yeah, true. But damn, why couldn't he just make things easy? A simple 'yeah, the Elder Wand is hidden in this cave' would have been nice." Galin complained.
"You know how wizards are Gal, especially Britanian wizards," Yuno said
Galin rolled his eyes, "Yeah yeah, I know. They're all too damn stubborn and prideful for their own good." he sighed, as they continued downstairs. They made their way to the bottom and walked down a corridor, stepping over many of the lumps of robes that covered the ground.
"This should be where the radio is at. Yuno can you drop that spell that interfered with the radio waves?" Arianna said as they rounded the corner and saw a small room where a radio set had been set up on a wooden desk.
Yuno nodded, "Yeah, no problem." He said, stepping forward and dispelling his ward. A moment later, the sky lost its faint green glow, and the radio hummed to life again.
"Radio's back on," he announced.
"Good, Galin you send out the S.O.S to the Ministry, Yuno you create the dark mark to summon the Death Eaters" Arianna ordered
Galin nodded and moved towards the radio, "On it."
Yuno wasted no time, casting a spell that sent a streak of green light into the sky, creating a dark mark in the shape of a skull.
"Dark mark is up," he said. "Just tell me when you're ready, and I'll open the portal."
The trio started to hear low-sounding 'booms' as the Death Eaters arrived, they heard a collective gasp from the courtyard at the devastation the trio had caused.
"S.O.S sent," Galin said as his finger left the telegraph key. On cue, they heard more low-sounding booms, and fighting between the Aurors and Death Eaters began. Arianna nodded as she heard the fighting outside.
"Looks like the party has started," she said with a satisfied smile
She turned to Yuno, "Get that portal open. We're not sticking around to get caught up in that mess."
Yuno nodded and began to cast a spell, creating a swirling vortex of dark energy. The portal formed, and he gestured towards it.
"Portal's ready," he said. "Let's get out of here before the fighting spills into here."
The trio ran through the portal and stumbled onto the ground right outside Hogwarts. Yuno was the last to step out, and he quickly clapped his hands together closing the portal. The night sky hid their forms as they stepped through, with the dim moonlight hiding their forms from the patrolling teachers.
Galin let out a breath of relief as they landed outside Hogwarts, safely away from the carnage they had left behind.
"That was fun!" he said, looking at the school, which was peaceful in contrast to the chaos they had just escaped.
"Well, we did what we came here to do," Arianna said, a satisfied smirk on her face. "Grindelwald is gone, and the chaos we caused will keep the Order, The Ministry, and Riddle distracted for a while." Arianna took off her mask and undid her ponytail. "Let's head back to the dorms, make it look like we were asleep the whole time"
Galin and Yuno nodded in agreement, following suit and taking off their masks. "Yeah, that's probably a good idea. Don't want to raise suspicion." Yuno said
Galin checked his watch, "It's pretty late anyway. Everybody should be asleep."
Arianna and Galin raised their amulets in front of them and two portals opened up in front of them. Arianna's leading to Gryffindor, and Galin's leading to Hufflepuff respectively. Yuno opened a portal of his own that led to Slytherin. The group bid each other goodnight before Galin and Yuno went through their respective portals. Arianna watched them go before stepping through her portal to return to the Gryffindor dormitory.
(The United States, Cleveland)
Grindelwald fell onto a hard cement floor with a thud, he let out a gasp as hit the floor, and rolled in pain from the bullet that was still lodged in his shoulder.
"Where…am I," he muttered. He looked around and saw he was in the basement of what looked to be a modern-day muggle home. He then heard footsteps coming down the stairs.
"Well, your arrival means my student's mission was a success I'd take it?" a woman with red hair and dark blue eyes said as she rounded the corner of the stairwell. She was dressed in a green turtle neck, blue jeans, and a pair of tennis shoes.
Grindelwald's eyes widen in recognition. "No…you….you're only supposed to be a myth!" he yelled as he scrambled backward.
"Ah well, sorry to inform you Gellert, but I'm very much real and very alive," she said as she slowly walked towards him. "Now then, unlike my students." she began. With a snap of her fingers, a dragon claw slammed down and pinned Grindelwald to the ground. His eyes filled with terror as he looked up at the woman standing over him. She took a sip of the coffee that was in her mug and set it down on a nearby countertop.
"I can take my time with getting what I want out of you," she said, her soothing voice making the situation all the more terrifying for him. "So let's enjoy ourselves, shall we?"