Inside the command centre on ground zero outside Hogsmeade, the higher-ups of DMLE gathered around a table with a holographic three-dimensional representation of Hogsmeade floating in the centre.
"What is the progress on the Unspeakable side?" asked Scrimgeour, who had arrived just for this meeting.
"Some progress has been made on the ward," answered Kingsley. "I've been told that they can get us inside by tomorrow or the day after that, but that's about it. . . there hasn't been any progress on disabling the Floo or the spatial component of the ward. Even if the Unspeakables get us inside, the ward will stand with all its other functionality. . ."
Scrimgeour's face twisted before he said, "Which means there's no way to evacuate the people inside Hogwarts," he clicked his tongue. He looked to Robards, "Put pressure on the Unspeakables; I wanted us in there yesterday. Have we been able to an estimate of Death Eaters are inside?"
Kingsley answered the question, "From the sky scouting squad, we have spotted a number somewhere between two hundred fifty to three hundred Death Eaters."
". . . That's more than I thought," Scrimgeour scowled. "Even with all the clean-up we— and he," there was venom in his voice, "caught so many of them?" If the estimate was correct, every Auror and Hit Wizard would have to face at least two Death Eaters. . . which wasn't bad, given the training that they had, but he still didn't great about the numbers.
"The intelligence thinks that the Novellus Accionites who were punished a few years ago have been recruited into Death Eaters. They have been supplied with wands," which the charged Novellus Accionites were banned from wielding. Kingsley provided before asking Scrimgeour, "What of the Invisible Vigilante crew, sir? Will they be joining us? We could use the men."
"Sirius and Warlunt will be joining you, but the Juniors won't be," Scrimgeour didn't trust the Juniors who had ended up accidentally killing innocents to hold themselves in stressful situations, and he had refused the request to switch them out with the Juniors who were operating in the headquarters. Thus— "You will only be getting those two. I've started to send out calls to the retired members for reserve forces."
A Junior Auror pushed aside the tent flap and skidded into the tent, pushing aside the gravel on the ground. Her words died in her throat when she saw some very prominent pairs of eyes on her, but then she seemed to recall why she had barged into the command room so rudely. "R-Reporting, sirs! A large number of men are heading towards us from inside Hogsmeade!" she exclaimed.
Everyone inside the tent stood up. "Death Eaters?" asked Robards.
"No sir," said the Junior Auror; she sounded confused, "the men are Hogsmeade residents! A few Death Eaters are accompanying them."
Robards turned to Kingsley and ordered, "Gather everyone; I want us to be ready for any scenario." He turned to Scrimgeour, "Leave immediately."
"I want to see what is this," said Scrimgeour.
"You are leaving right now. Don't argue with me, sir. We will call you for combat if we need you. I can't take the risk of the Head of DMLE dying on my watch. Now, go!" The Aurors moved out, leaving Scrimgeour inside alone.
Outside, the Aurors and DMLE stood outside the ward, ready for the worst. Slowly, people trickled into the empty streets inside the ward as a large group of men made their way to the ward boundary.
"Stop!" announced Kingsley with his wand on his throat.
The Hogsmeade men didn't stop, nor did the Death Eaters accompanying them. The men heard Kingsley, and many of them started to panic and cry; some even tried to stop, but some light magic from the Death Eaters forced them to continue onwards. It was as though shepherds guiding the sheep.
"State your purpose!" Kingsley spoke again.
In response, a shot of magic shot from deep within the village flew over the buildings and followed the course of a projectile, forming a wide arch in the sky until it flew into the ward, turning the silver barrier into gold.
The Aurors and Hit Wizards all braced their wands in caution.
One of the Death Eaters grabbed an old man by the arm in the front and dragged him to the front. "Stop! No! Please take me!" shouted a younger man who looked to be the old man's son. The Death Eater ignored the cries and bought the whimpering old man near the boundary before shoving him through. Everyone stopped their breathing in expectation of something horrible to happen— but nothing as such happened— the old man simply passed through the golden barrier and fell down onto the ground because of the push.
Kingsley rushed forward and knelt beside the old man. He helped him up and asked, "Are you alright, sir."
"Y-Yes," the old man managed between his erratic breathing.
"Send everyone through," ordered the Death Eater in the lead, and the rest of the Death Eaters began pushing the hostages forward. And after seeing the old man cross the barrier without harm, there was much less resistance; some men rushed through it and cried with joy when they passed through unharmed.
When every single one of the men passed through safely, Kingsley called out to the Death Eaters. "What is this?" he asked. The Death Eaters walked away without replying to Kingsley, even when he called out after them repeatedly.
Kingsley saw one of his Juniors approach the group of men. "Back off!" he yelled. "No one is going to go near them," he pointed his wand at the Hogsmeade men, causing them to cover and huddle together. "Check them thoroughly to see if there's something wrong with them?" He addressed the scared people, "This is for your own safety. If the Dark Lord has done something to you, we will get treat it for you. Please be rest assured; we don't have any intention to harm you."
He looked at Kingsley and gestured for him to follow. Both returned to the tent and found that Scrimgeour was still inside. "Sir, I explicitly asked you to return to Whitehall; why are you still here?" Robards said with a disapproving frown.
"I can protect myself, Robards. Don't forget that even though I'm the Head of DMLE, I'm still enlisted as an active duty Auror."
"Doesn't matter—"
"Why did the Death Eaters let the hostages go?"
"They didn't say," sighed Robards. "We are checking if they have bobby-trapped them in some way."
"This is something out of character. We need to find out why they let them go?" Scrimgeour frowned.
"You do not have to worry about it." The three Aurors stilled for a split second when they heard the distorted voice they all had come across at some point and were well familiar with. When the split-second of stillness, their trained instincts took over, and they whipped their wands toward the source. Sitting on a chair on the corner was Invisible Vigilante dressed in his usual garb with his feet crossed and his hands resting on his knees. "You should focus on how to get into Hogsmeade."
"Avada Kedavra" — there was no hesitation in Scrimgeour's chant or actions as he unleashed a Killing Curse.
The green jet of magic struck the Invisible Vigilante right in the mask, but instead of getting absorbed in the body, it passed through the mask, leaving behind a hole. "You are lucky I am here to talk," said the masked figure. It was as if the body was made from the mist, and the form had been disturbed by the spell. The mist recollected itself to fix the hole in the face, returning the figure to whole. "I have a way to get all of you inside Hogsmeade and can provide you with credible intel about the Death Eater positioning."
"Why would I believe you?" Scrimgeour spat. None of the Aurors lowered their wards. "You just made Aurors kill innocent people. You deserve to have your soul sucked up by Dementors. If I could only find one to do it."
. . . . .
Quinn sitting on a rock a distance from the Auror's tent, blinked his eyes in confusion. Him making Aurors kill innocents. . . what was that about? "My apologies, but I feel like I am missing something," he said, and his illusion in the tent repeated. "I have not made Aurors kill innocents. Why would I waste my time doing such things?"
"You made my men kill seven people at the Wipply Resort," Robards scowled.
"I have not heard of any Wipply Resort," frowned Quinn. Wipply Resorts. . . seven innocents. . . Aurors. . . from those pieces of information, many scenarios were built in his mind until he arrived at the one that made the most sense to him. "Are you sure it was not a Death Eater pretending to be me? I have no interest in killing innocents."
"What if they were children of Death Eaters?"
"Innocent until proven guilty. When did these supposed killings happen?"
"Today," supplied Robards.
"That does not make sense. Why would I waste my time with children when Voldemort has taken over Hogsmeade and is planning a siege on Hogwarts?"
"To take Death Eaters' children hostage and—"
"Again, that does not make sense. Do you think the Dark Lord would stop because of children? He would put his own men under Imperious if they were even a minor inconvenience."
"I still believe you did it," Scrimgeour said testily.
"Does not matter what you believe, "Illusion-Quinn rose up from his chair, and the Aurors reaffirmed their aim. "What matters now is whether you want to get inside Hogwarts or not." He pointed at the table where two pucks sat. "One of those has a detailed description of Death Eaters' routines and patrols, everything you will need to form a plan of attack. The other one is the location of an open Labyrinth exit point which is connected to a door inside Hogsmeade. . ."
From where he was looking, the first part surprised the three Aurors, but the second part boggled their minds. They were so shocked that Quinn was sure if he was there in the tent, he would've taken all three of them with a single spell.
". . . Upto you if you want to take this information and do something good, or if you want to ignore it and continue to risk the lives of the women and children" — what Voldemort had done by only releasing the men had irked him very much — "If I do not do see you all in there, I will come after every single one of you and cripple your entire bodies. You have been warned."
Illusion-Quinn vanished from the tent, and above in the tent roof, an artificial eye peeking through a hole flew away. He would've loved to continue to observe the Aurors, but he had to move and continue to the next part of the process, and leaving the eye exposed without him nearby would risk his identity getting out.
. . . . .
". . . Sir, what should we do?" Kingsley, the lowest ranking member in the tent, broke the silence.
Scrimgeour and Robards stared at the two black pucks on the table.
"Have the information he gave us confirmed," Scrimgeour ordered. "If it is true. . . " he looked at Robards ". . . proceed to infiltrate Hogsmeade."
.
-*-*-*-*-*-
.
Quinn West - MC - Keep it moving.
Kingsley Shacklebolt - Captain Auror - Is thinking of writing a book after everything is over.
FictionOnlyReader - Author - Next few chapters will be challenging.
Comments