Chapter 18 - The Crow Caws
Arthur had sat through a lot of boring meetings during his time as a mid-level bureaucrat at the Ministry of Magic, but most of them had the decency to quit after a while. Septimus Artemis, leader of the European Common Defense Treaty Force, a pretentious name if Arthur had ever heard one, barely stopped his droning lecture to take a breath. Even worse, the man refused to stop chewing on his pipe even though the thing had long since gone out.
That ornate seventeenth century goblin wrought pipe that cost more money than Arthur's whole extended family could scrape together. Oh how Arthur loathed watching him sit there idly moving it back and forth from one corner of his mouth to the other. He knew he had been staring at the pipe for at least the last half-hour, but he didn't really care. It wasn't like there was anything else less appalling to look at. Artemis was wearing a black cloak, like all the Treaty Force, with a glittering green outline of a snake on the right shoulder. Arthur couldn't believe that Fudge would let them wear snake robes when they were supposed to be fighting the self proclaimed heir of Slytherin.
Artemis was talking about using one's magical instincts to sense impending attacks now and some of the newer aurors seemed to be in deep concentration as they absorbed his words. Decent aurors like Tonks got sacked and these rubes had been moved up out of regular wizarding law enforcement. Half of them had received their positions out of pure patronage because of their family ties and most of the rest had bought their way into the position for the power that it affords. In Arthur's experience aurors were notorious for selectively obeying the laws, but the kind of rank favoritism that was going on right now was only making the problem that much worse. Of course, since the war started it was always uncertain if aurors would even be sent to enforce the law in the first place.
Then there was the rest of the team that the continent had sent over. Mostly cronies of Artemis who were probably unqualified to be members of an elite squad of "super" hit wizards. The only exception that he noted was Septimus' sister Sense. Arthur knew a powerful witch when he saw one and all of his instincts were screaming out that she was particularly deadly. The Artemis family was renowned for the uncommonly powerful witches that ran in its bloodline.
Arthur also had another reason for his disgust with these supposed allies that had decided to stick their noses into British affairs. Ronald had told him all about their arrival and of course he was well aware of how purebloods in general though of muggles. A jittery looking man made his way into the room and seemed to be beside himself about what he should do. Arthur refrained from laughing, so happy he was at the distraction, as the man tried to wrestle out with himself whether or not he should interrupt Artemis' lecture.
At last the poor miserable lackey was put out of his misery as Artemis noticed him and motioned for him to come over. The pureblood didn't skip a beat in his speech as he read the parchment that the man offered to him. After he had looked at it for a moment he folded the paper neatly and placed it inside his cloak.
Arthur wasn't fooled by that little performance in the slightest. Something was going on or else that man wouldn't have been so jittery. Arthur went back to staring at the pipe as he waited for the other shoe to fall.
Artemis cleared his throat and made a noise as if he were attempting to remember something. "Ah, we've been at this a while haven't we," he said.
"Here it comes," Arthur thought to himself.
"We've had a few reports of Death Eater activity here lately-" Artemis said, as though it were nothing of consequence.
"Bingo," Arthur thought. "As if we weren't always getting reports of Death Eater activity these days."
"So I've decided to start sending out more patrols to make sure the surrounding parts of the city remain safe," Artemis continued. He paused for a while as he considered his options.
"Weasley, why don't you head this one up?" Artemis said.
"Uh, sir, with all due respect, Arthur works for muggle management or some such," Raver Harp interjected. "Perhaps an auror…"
"Your old man trained you after you got out of school didn't he?" Artemis asked, interrupting Harp as if he had said nothing.
"Of course," Arthur replied as though that were a given.
"Great, you're overqualified for something this routine then," Artemis said happily. Sense stifled a giggle and rolled her eyes at her brother. "Just to be safe though why don't you go with him Harp, in case the expert services of an auror are needed. You can draw two additional members for your patrol out of the magical law enforcement pool."
"Understood," Arthur said.
He had to hurry to keep up with the overeager pace of Harp as they traveled through the Ministry building up towards the surface. Most people hadn't been able to see the inside of the Ministry to a very great extent since the war had started. Gone were the open corridors and delightful windows with magical weather. Now there were security posts scattered at regular intervals throughout the halls and great barriers that could be dropped to seal off whole portions of the building. Strict anti-apparation and portkey dispersion wards were set up, though there was one narrow gap in the portkey blocking system that would allow for one way exit as an emergency measure.
Of course if the Ministry were compromised to the point where evacuation became necessary it would be likely that magical government in England would have ceased to exist in deed, if not in word. One thing that had been consistent for nearly fifteen hundred years was some form of centralized wizarding authority. In all that time the official seat of government had moved several times, but at no time had it ever been overrun by any foe.
"Harp, slow down," Arthur said finally. The auror turned around and gave him a nasty look before resuming his pace. Arthur sighed and shook his head. He knew that Harp was exaggerating his obnoxious behavior so no one would suspect that they knew each other as well as they did. At least Arthur hoped it was exaggeration. The man could be pretty annoying under normal circumstances.
"I suppose you'll want to pick?" Harp said when they arrived at the pool or normal magical law enforcement. At least that's what they called it. Agents who weren't on duty were usually required to stay on call at the Ministry's premises so they would be available for quick action.
"Doesn't matter," Arthur said casually. Of course it mattered. These days magical law enforcement was even more inept than the auror corp. He certainly didn't want to be stuck with someone from the bottom of that barrel.
Arthur's eyes swept the room as he evaluated his options. "Burke, Judy, you're with us."
The two nodded, took out their wands, and joined them in the hall. Harp took out his wand as well while they walked toward the lobby. They would begin their patrol from the main entrance and take a random path around the perimeter of the special anti-muggle wards that had been erected due to the war.
The sky outside the Ministry was clear and the sunset was actually rather alluring. A full moon, something that had been an ominous sign since the advent of Voldemort's werewolf army, was slowly rising.
Arthur decided to keep off the streets and search all the nearby buildings in case there were enemies hiding within them. Even though this was supposed to be impossible, or at least easily detectable, a strong enough wizard could always manage a surprise and Voldemort was the strongest.
The team made its way through the abandoned structures slowly and carefully. Haste killed more wizards than anything else, even as they went about the ordinary tasks of life. Magic could often be volatile when handled hastily and subtle traps could often be overlooked by carelessness. Accordingly, Arthur saved the tallest structure for last so that they could survey the surroundings as a whole once their ground search was complete.
"I don't feel so good," Burke said abruptly.
"Me either, I've got a terrible headache and its getting worse," Judy said, moaning slightly.
Arthur suddenly became aware of a pressure building up right behind his eyes. Harp was rubbing his temple uncomfortably too.
"Look sharp, it's some kind of new ward," Arthur said tersely.
A ward that was only supposed to work on muggles… Arthur had read accounts of how muggles described the effects of the ward most often used by mages to keep them away. The effects usually manifested themselves as the targeted muggle suddenly remembering forgotten appointments or being unable to look in a certain direction. Only one person would have the skill or the desire to make something like that affect wizards too.
"I can't see anything," Harp said. "Is this what a muggle feels like?"
The pain kept getting worse and worse as the ward approached. There was a screaming sound going through the air that Arthur couldn't make out, but one that none the less filled him with dread and despair. A fierce gust of wind hit the top of the roof and finally the thing being hidden by the ward was too close to avoid detection any longer.
"That's not possible," Harp yelled as he staggered under the wind to keep his feet.
A great horn tailed dragon was hovering over the Ministry of Magic. Beneath it was a larger than life cauldron that was putting off some kind of thick green smoke. Arthur didn't know what they were trying to do, but he knew it couldn't be good.
"Hurry, we've got to bring that dragon down," he yelled.
"How?" Judy asked frantically. Dragons were among the most difficult of all creatures to kill. They were covered in several layers of thick dead scales that resisted all normal magic and could even shrug off repeated hits with the Avada Kedavra curse.
"Concentrate killing curses on where its wing join to its body," Arthur replied.
Beams of green light began lancing out, but with only four mages casting the spells Arthur never really had any hope of success. The cauldron suspended beneath the dragon tipped over sharply, sending a torrent of green liquid crashing down on the false building that hid and protected the Ministry. A huge burst of flame and fog boiled up the instant the substance connected with the building. The entire scene was quickly obscured, though Arthur did manage to see the dragon lifting itself clear once its job was complete.
"Hey, Harp, you got an extra one of those?" Arthur asked as the annoying auror put on a bluish colored eyepiece. He hoped that the anti-muggle wards could handle the strain of this much interference. The last thing they needed was those flame-engines to show up…
"Of course not," he said distractedly, "We've got to get back to the Minister."
"Look out," Burke exclaimed as the roof around them erupted in shrapnel. Arthur looked up and saw several wizards on brooms including three that could only be avatars. Behind them, in some kind of absurdly powerful levitation charm, were several metallic cylinders with conical tips.
Arthur and his team spread out to make themselves lesser targets, but it quickly became clear that they were not the objective of this new force. The avatars gestured violently with their wands and the torpedo shaped cylinders went flying into the mist that still shrouded the Ministry.
"What's going on?" Arthur asked anxiously. He looked to Harp expectantly, but the auror didn't respond right away.
"I can't see them, they keep disappearing into the hole where the Ministry used to be," Harp said finally. "That acid potion must have melted down pretty far."
"What are we going to do now?" Burke asked. Arthur looked over at the two regular law enforcement agents that they'd brought along and saw that they were both very tense.
"I'm not sure, for the moment we should keep watching," Arthur replied. He was secretly hoping that Harry would show up with Light Bearer reinforcements, but as the seconds continued to tick by that seemed less and less likely. Arthur already suspected that this attack was meant to keep the Ministry from going to Harry's aid, not that it was likely for them to do so at this point, and if the Ministry fell in the process then so much the better.
"No way, we've got to help the Minister," Harp replied. "They're going to never every able wand down there. Those canister things can't be a good sign."
"Until we know what we're up against and how to help we'd just be risking getting caught in the crossfire," Arthur said calmly. "Everyone get ready, when they fire the next cylinder we'll combine our summoning charms and try to knock it off course."
"Here it comes," Judy said. The four mages pointed their wands and cast their summoning charms in perfect synchronization, but the effect on the canister was almost undetectable. Arthur knew it had worked though when he heard the screech of metal and the sound of a disorderly impact.
"Get under cover," Burke yelled. A hail of green beams rained down on their position for a moment as the air borne attackers tried to suppress any interference.
"Oh man, this is really bad," Harp said after the aerial attack ceased and everyone had returned to the edge of the building. "There's a bunch of werewolves crawling out of that thing."
"Werewolves?" Judy asked with alarm.
"This is bad," Arthur intoned. Of course the werewolves couldn't arrive on the spot for a surprise attack in any other way. Portkeys were blocked, werewolves can't perform magic like apparation or even control a broom, and many of these werewolves were probably muggles anyway. Moreover, even armored werewolves were still at a disadvantage against a wizard. This way they were delivered safely to point blank range where they were most lethal and the method of delivery was the most shockingly innovative he had ever seen.
"We've got to go help fight off those werewolves," Harp said. "We'll all get commendations for this if we bust up the attack."
"There's nothing we can do about them," Arthur said. "The real threat is from the avatars and Death Eaters anyway. The werewolves are just fodder to wear our people down."
Harp wasn't listening though; he was too intent on getting into the middle of the fray. Before Arthur could even shout for him to stop he had thrown himself off the building and disappeared into the thick fog.
"Bloody moron," Arthur mumbled angrily. "Now we're blind up here."
"Uh, boss, what do we do now?" Burke asked sheepishly.
"Follow me, we're going down there," Arthur said with a disgusted voice. They were blind in the middle of an attack that was evolving in ways they couldn't possibly know. For a second Arthur considered just leaving and returning to Grimmauld Place to discover what was going on in the wider war, but then he glanced over at his two followers. He couldn't leave them at this point or they wouldn't stand a chance. They weren't prepared for this kind of fight at all.
"Uh, Arthur, we're not going to jump off the building are we?" Judy asked. Magical genes would protect them from most mundane sorts of injuries, but it wasn't something one wanted to put to the test if it wasn't necessary.
"Of course not, the stairs are right there," Arthur replied with a smirk.
They made their way through the streets toward the direction of the Ministry, but they couldn't see more than fifteen or twenty meters away from them in any direction. Arthur found himself imagining how he was going to hex Harp's skin off as soon as he caught up with the flashy auror when he heard a growl.
Two snarling werewolves came leaping out of the fog at a frightening pace. Their bronze colored armor and metallic claws already looked disturbingly red. Arthur snapped off a quick stunner, but the spell didn't even make it through the werewolf's armor. He threw himself to one side as claws tore through the space he had just occupied and Arthur found himself wishing he had some Light Bearer armor.
Burke called out an incantation that sent small silver disks whirling out toward the second werewolf. At the last second the creature slashed them out of the air with its metallic claws. Judy repeated the spell, with more power, but was only rewarded by metal on metal sparks as the werewolf had to work a little harder to defeat her assault.
"Use fire," Arthur yelled as he sent a torrent of hungry flame toward the first werewolf. A smoking hairless beast emerged from the inferno and collapsed with a whimper. The other turned tail and disappeared back into the fog.
"Come on, we've got to keep moving before he returns with help," Arthur said. These werewolves, all clearly operating with the aid of the Wolf's Bane potion, were far more formidable in battle than he had ever imagined a werewolf could be. It was clear that they were well trained, something that no ordinary werewolf could ever be. Training, in combination with the instincts of a wolf, had proven to be very strong.
"We're almost to the Ministry," Burke said as they rounded the corner. The man was breathing heavily and Arthur was beginning to feel a little fatigue himself. Too many years of sitting behind a desk had affected him more than he realized.
As they neared the Ministry the fog began to glow in a way that alluded to the presence of a large fire nearby. The air was beginning to flow toward the glow in swirling currents and Arthur had to fight with his cloak to keep it from interfering with his wand. Arthur saw a green flash out of the corner of his eye and felt his stomach twist as he heard a thud next to him.
"Burke!" Judy screamed, terrified, even her limited training seemingly forgotten.
A tall dark figure with long platinum blonde hair seemingly materialized out of no where. The man pointed his wand and sent a flood of feathers toward them in what to an outsider would have seemed to be a comical attack.
"Get back," Arthur commanded. He gave Judy a shove as he leaped in the opposite direction. The feathers rushed past harmlessly, but their razor sharp edges turned the stone building behind them into a pile of sand.
"Judy, get out of here," Arthur said calmly.
"But-" she stuttered.
"Just go, you'll only get in my way," Arthur said sharply. "I should never have brought you or Burke with me. Get to the edge of the wards and apparate out of here while you still can."
Judy turned so quickly that she stumbled slightly before catching herself and running away as fast as she could. Arthur narrowed his eyes and looked down the street through the haze of fog mixing with smoke to where his adversary stood waiting.
"Lucius," Arthur said tersely, his voice filled with barely restrained loathing.
"Arthur," Malfoy replied in a falsely warm, friendly voice. "I have been so very much awaiting a meeting such as this with you."
"Just what do you hope to gain by this Lucius?" Arthur asked. Part of him was curious, but mainly he was just concerned with throwing Malfoy off his guard. "You can't possibly hope to defeat the Ministry with a force this small even with these unusual tactics."
"The Dark Lord will be arriving soon," Lucius replied suggestively.
"Harry will stop him," Arthur replied confidently.
Lucius laughed, "Do you really think the Dark Lord would commit to something like this if it were even remotely possible that Potter could interfere? It's over Arthur, resistance from this point onward is meaningless."
"I-I don't believe you," Arthur said, wavering slightly.
"It doesn't matter if you believe or not," Lucius replied with a nastily condescending tone. "The Dark Lord is the greatest wizard of all time, more powerful than Merlin himself. Today everyone will finally comprehend the full measure of his power as he begins his infinite rule over this world."
"Voldemort will never rule this world as long as I'm in it," Arthur said, voice shaking. He had not said Voldemort's name aloud since before the first war.
"I was hoping you'd say something like that," Lucius said, grinning maniacally. "We can finally finish the feud you started."
"That I started?" Arthur replied incredulously. "That feud between our families ended during the first war, we were both little kids!"
"It didn't end," Lucius replied petulantly. "My whole family was nearly wiped out and all you lost was what little remained of your ridiculous estate. I'm the wronged party."
"You tried to kill my daughter!" Arthur snapped back, referring to the diary that Lucius had slipped into her cauldron during her first year.
"Actually, I did kill her," Lucius said smugly. "Those giants appeared as part of my strategy."
Arthur wanted to scream out in rage, but instead he replied calmly. "Your road ends here Lucius."
"I'm afraid not," Lucius said calmly. He reached into his robes and removed a bright red eyepiece that he then placed over his left eye. "You see, you're my prize, my reward for my long standing faithfulness to the cause."
The fog magically thickened to further reduce Arthur's visibility until he could no longer see Lucius. A flash of green whipped past Arthur's arm before he could react, but he knew that Lucius had missed on purpose as a taunt to toy with him for a while.
"You always were a disgraceful wizard Arthur," Lucius' voice seemed to echo from all around. "A dozen dirty little children, a worthless hovel for a home, and worst of all, a muggle handling job."
"You should know all about disgrace," Arthur replied through gritted teeth. "You always were a snake; lying, cheating, stealing, murdering anyone who got in your way. I'm actually surprised that you would face me at all even with everything rigged in your favor. A dagger in the back, sure, but you were always too much of a coward for real combat."
Lucius chuckled, "Ah, Arthur, splendid, full of determination, as always," he said lightly. "I apologize for thinking that I could throw you off balance with words. Let us leave such childish tactics aside and duel as gentleman wizards for old time's sake."
"I don't suppose you mean you'll step into the open for a fair fight?" Arthur asked wryly.
"Fair?" Lucius replied quizzically. "What is fair? An equal chance to win? If that's the case then nothing is ever fair because two opponents can never be equally matched. We're both playing by the same rules here Arthur, or should I say lack of rules. It isn't my fault that you didn't have the foresight to plan ahead for a situation such as this."
Arthur flicked his wand and created a powerful burst of air in an attempt to increase his field of vision. The thick smog rushed back into place as quickly as it was moved aside by his spell.
"Come now Arthur, don't insult me," Lucius' voice taunted him. "Did you really expect that I would go to all this trouble if such a simple spell would be effective?"
"Well, if it worked and I didn't try it then I'd be the one looking foolish," Arthur retorted dryly.
"I can only hope that your next attempt is better," Lucius said, "Or else this'll be no fun at all."
Arthur ground his teeth and tried to remind himself that Malfoy was just trying to goad him by calling their battle a game. He saw the fog shift erratically out of the corner of his eye and dived to the side just in time to avoid another spell. Arthur conjured a silver shield emblazoned with the outline of a crow and stayed crouching as he waited for another attack.
When it didn't come Arthur decided to take the initiative himself and launched a random flurry of spells in all directions. There was a sharp stab in his side and he felt liquid warmth spreading under his robes.
"How careless," Lucius drawled. "I saw an opening too big to ignore."
Arthur muttered a basic healing charm while he crouched again in anticipation of a new attack. With that eyepiece enhancing Lucius' vision he didn't stand a chance so long as he was stuck in the middle of such dense fog. Arthur felt his arm complain under the force of the impact of Lucius' next spell, but he recast the shield charm and rolled away into a new defensive position.
Corporeal spells and metallic projectiles rained down on Arthur from all sides. Again he found himself wishing that he had the arm armor so he could use its built in shield as an extra layer of defense for when his own conjured shield collapsed. As Lucius' attacks worsened in their intensity and frequency Arthur found his shield needing to be recast almost continually. He was a powerful wizard, but defense was less robust than offense at his level of power. Arthur simply couldn't create a shield with the kind of staying power he needed in order to mount a good counter attack.
"Come now Arthur, surely you can do better," Lucius said tauntingly. "Your old man taught you how to fight didn't he? Where's the fabled Weasley skill that your family has prided itself on for all these centuries?"
Arthur jerked hastily to the left as some kind of blunt force spell narrowly missed him and instead slammed into the building behind him. Arthur didn't wait for all the rubble to stop falling before using one of the larger chunks as a shield.
"No good, I see everything, remember?" Lucius said, his voice ringing with mocking laughter.
Inspiration struck Arthur a split second before Lucius' Cruciatus Curse. He gritted his teeth in anguish and lashed out blindly with a long whip of red searing energy. Dust boiled up as the red rope-like attack tore through the street wherever it touched. Arthur used the momentary respite to launch his counter attack. He thrust his wand into the air, closed his eyes, and cast a blinding light spell. Lucius screamed out in pain as the eyepiece unexpectedly magnified the intense magical light. Arthur forced his aching body to run toward the sound of the scream until he was close enough to see his immobilized foe.
Lucius looked up with his one unaffected eye just in time to see Arthur's crimson colored whip descending on him. He tried to dodge, but the tip of the lash ripped through the eyepiece and also a good portion of the eye beneath it. Before Lucius could respond Arthur disappeared back into the fog that until now had given the elder Malfoy a decisive advantage.
"I'm sorry Lucius," Arthur said. It was now his turn to mock. "Did I break your little toy?"
"I'll kill you for this!" Lucius screamed as he clutched his ruined eye with one hand, blood pouring down freely from between his fingers. "I'll torture you for an eternity for this. The Dark Lord can conquer death. My vengeance will be unending."
"Oh?" Arthur replied in a bored flat tone. "I thought this would make the game more fun. A quick victory would be boring right?"
Lucius' only reply was another scream followed by a torrent of greenish colored flames that he let loose indiscriminately on his surroundings. Arthur calmly walked away from the rush of fire until Lucius tired of the attack and began to compose himself again. There was a whooshing noise and suddenly the fog was whisked back from the area so that the street was completely visible. A few dozen feet away a clearly enraged Lucius was beginning to wind up his next round of spells.
"Ah, I see, well done," Arthur said lightly. "You had this area rigged really well. So much foresight on your part Lucius."
"You can't even begin to imagine what I'm going to do to you Arthur," Lucius replied darkly.
"I'm sure your imagination is very creative after spending all those years in a dungeon, not to mention that time in Azkaban," Arthur replied. "I wonder what you see when you're around dementors?"
"That hole in a ground you call a house," Lucius retorted. He drug his wand through the air and tore a bright gash into the fabric of the atmosphere. The tear solidified into a crescent sickle and accelerated sharply toward Arthur. The first two were easy for the aging red headed wizard to dodge, but the damage to his body began to tell on him as the attacks gained frequency. Arthur unleashed a burst of magical energy that ground the incoming projectiles into dust.
"It isn't going to be that easy Lucius," Arthur said, still taunting. The blonde haired aristocrat didn't like being on the losing end of his own game and it showed in his increasing recklessness. At this rate Arthur was confident that Lucius would soon make an irreparable mistake that would end the duel.
"You may be able to see me now, but can you keep up?" Lucius said as he conjured his own unadorned silver shield and pointed his wand defiantly. Arthur fired off a breaker curse as Lucius blurred away under an acceleration charm. Before the evil wizard could close Arthur flicked his wand upward and caused the ground around him to explode in a defensive rain of debris. Lucius shimmered back into view a short distance away looking wary.
"Avada Kedavra," Arthur yelled unexpectedly. A green beam lanced out of his wand toward Lucius.
A piece of loose street intercepted the spell. "Don't be silly-" Lucius said, but then was cut off as the beam went around the piece of pavement and covered him in a thick gooey substance.
"Oops, I guess that wasn't the Killing Curse after all, just a strangulation spell," Arthur said. He cast a stunning spell, intending to end the match, but Lucius somehow managed to dodge it even though he could barely wiggle.
"Dishonorable," Lucius spat as he continued to struggle. "Calling out a spell and using a silent casting technique to actually use a different one."
"Eh?" Arthur asked as he continued to fire off stunners. "I seem to recall someone saying that this battle had no rules."
Arthur grinned as Lucius was now the one whose thin veneer of civility was beginning to wear out. His grin turned to shocked surprise when he felt the air rushing out of his lungs. Arthur doubled over in pain and stumbled backward from where Lucius had suddenly appeared.
"You should have seen the mudblood Granger at Hogsmeade," Lucius said conversationally. "I'd never seen a mage fight like that before. I assume she got her novel ideas from the muggle world."
"What…was…that," Arthur asked. He coughed roughly and was horrified to see giant splashes of blood stain the ground beneath him.
"An advanced acceleration technique," Lucius said with a dismissive shrug. "I've been practicing it ever since I saw Granger use it against the giants."
"Wand propulsion?" Arthur asked dizzily. He had heard Hermione talk about it before; how that banishing spells and acceleration charms could be mixed into a hybrid means of moving about quickly in more ways than the linear directions allowed by the acceleration charm alone. Arthur began to covertly cast spells onto the ground all around him as Lucius continued his taunt.
"It was shocking really to see a mudblood fight so well, like an animal actually," Lucius said.
"I'll let Hermione know you were impressed," Arthur replied, though he was still gasping for air.
"I think not," Lucius said conversationally. "Anyway, just because a dangerous animal can instinctively fight well doesn't make it worthy of admiration."
For the first time it hit Arthur that as far as Lucius was concerned none of this was a pretext. The elder Malfoy actually believed that muggle born individuals were little more than wild animals unfit for magical society. He had known a lot of purebloods in his life. Many of them blamed their muggle born peers for problems that were of their own making such as failure to receive a promotion or get their desired job. Wizards with lengthy pedigrees were upset by the newcomers to the world of magic and saw them as less deserving. They hadn't built anything, yet they took full advantage of what the old families had accomplished.
"All that is very nearly at an end," Lucius continued. "The Dark Lord will end the centuries of muggle dominance and the mudbloods will finally be put in their place. Wizards will once again use their wisdom to be stewards of the magical and muggle realms like our proudest ancestor Merlin."
"Merlin only intervened to prevent corrupt mages from using their power to dominate the muggle world," Arthur retorted. "If he were here right now he'd never support you."
"Don't presume to speak for Merlin," Lucius snapped. "He meddled in the affairs of muggles far more than was necessary to check the influences of the sorceress Morgan."
"Still, it is inescapable that Merlin guided muggle rulers, he did not coerce them," Arthur said stubbornly.
"Muggle myth makers wouldn't know an Imperius Curse if they saw one," Lucius said contemptuously. "Merlin ruled through the muggle kings and now we will do so again."
"You've gotten ahead of yourself Lucius," Arthur said as he stood and snapped off a powerful series of inhibiting spells.
Lucius blurred away to escape the attack and close in on Arthur with the intention of delivering another blow at point blank range. Off to Arthur's left there was a series of explosions as the jinxes he had cast repelled Lucius' approach with violent effectiveness. Arthur cast more powerful spells into the cloud of dust raised by the explosions to hopefully end the duel in his favor while Lucius was off balance.
There was a sudden gust of air an instant before Arthur felt something sharp stabbing into his neck. He twisted his head around to see Lucius looming over him sinisterly.
"We're done here Arthur," Lucius said. The elder Malfoy reached up and gingerly touched the long thin wound that had torn vertically though his face. On his middle finger was a ring that protruded a needle like instrument, which was partially covered in blood.
"Wha-wha did y-you d-d-do," Arthur stammered. He looked down at his body, which now hung limply, held up only by Lucius' grip on him. He tried to will his arm to move or his legs to make him stand again.
"This ring contains a special poison that induces complete paralysis," Lucius said, indicating the needle weapon. "Did you seriously think that I wouldn't notice you jinxing the ground? I had planned to take much more time with you, but you hastened your fate when you ruined my eye."
"No…" Arthur whispered.
"Good-bye Arthur." Lucius said, his voice emotionless.
"I'm sorry…"
"Avada…"
"Molly…"
"Kedavra!"
There was a flash of green light and then a sickening thump as Arthur's lifeless body fell backward onto the ground, his glazed eyes staring sightlessly up into the sky. Lucius straightened up slowly after rifling through his defeated opponent's pockets before walking slowly off into the fog toward the Ministry.
A dozen silver daggers materialized and plunged down into the soft underbelly of a wounded werewolf who had failed to escape back behind the lines as his brethren retreated. His shattered armor deflected some of the spikes, but not nearly enough. The dog like whine of the wounded werewolf ceased abruptly.
"They were so eager to get in here," Septimus Artemis said lightly. "Have my skills as host become that dull?"
The young woman walking next to him broke out in a fit of giggles. "Perhaps they were bored by your cliché sarcasm brother?" Sense Artemis replied.
A Ministry wizard came running up, "Commander Artemis, Lady Artemis, three exceptionally dangerous foes have been spotted headed toward the Department of Mysteries. Minster Fudge has ordered they be stopped at all costs."
"Oh my, was this a diversion?" Sense asked, breaking out into a new round of giggles.
"Let's go take a look at these "exceptionally dangerous foes" that worry the Minister so greatly," Septimus said. The siblings flickered and vanished under the acceleration charm. The corridors of the Ministry flew past at a rapid pace until they brought themselves to a halt in front of three black cloaked figures that seemed to exude a cold dark presence.
"Only avatars dear brother," Sense said, slightly deflating.
"What are you two doing here?" the lead avatar asked gruffly.
"Haven't you heard?" Septimus said. "We've been called upon to defend the sovereignty of the English Magical Government."
"As good citizens of the magical community how could we refuse?" Sense added, snickering as if she had told some joke.
"You're insane," the second avatar said flatly.
Sense's cheerful expression vaporized in an instant and was replaced by a mask of undisguised fury.
"Idiot," the third avatar said harshly to the second.
Septimus took a step backward as his sister pointed her wand at the second avatar and wiggled her little finger. Giant iron rods, which glowed a dull red like embers in a dying fire, speared the man from all sides. He raised a quivering hand and tried to remove one of the thick pieces of conjured metal, but before he could touch it they flared up brightly. There was a fireball as the heat consumed the avatar from the inside out.
"Avada Kedavra," the other two avatars yelled at the same time in outrage over losing their comrade. Sense waved her wand and the two beams of green destruction exploded in mid flight. She waved again, anger still marring her delicate features, and was rewarded by the sounds of popping bones.
"That's enough sister," Septimus said quietly.
Sense shuddered and drew in a deep breath before stepping back. "Of course brother, I don't know what came over me so suddenly," she said, suddenly happy again.
"Let me handle this from here," Septimus said. The two avatars, their bodies horribly mangled, still managed to somehow rise from the floor and point their wands threateningly.
"You should have been on our side," the first avatar said. "These wounds are nothing, the Dark Lord will restore us for our faithful service after he has ground you into dust."
"Voldemort isn't as charitable as you seem to think he is," Septimus replied. "But since you have so much faith you won't mind if I kill you now."
Septimus' first spell bashed through the hastily conjured shield of the lead avatar and literally transfigured him into a pile of fine dust. The final avatar dodged a similar attack but was caught in the sudden appearance of a mass of fine white threads. Like a puppet the avatar's movement was totally under the control of the monstrously strong silky strands.
"I thought I told you to let me handle this Sense?" Septimus said.
"He looks so funny though," Sense said, giggling again. She pouted at her brother's expression, but caved in anyway. "Fine, finish him off, but I expect you to repay me somehow."
There was a green flash of light and then the white threads faded from view. The siblings were about to return to the front line when new footsteps were heard coming their way.
"Minister, your Department of Mysteries is secure," Septimus said with a slight bow.
"Superb work as usual Commander," Fudge replied. "The battle on the upper floors goes well. We should have a complete victory within the hour."
"That is good news indeed Minister," Septimus said politely. "Shall we return to aid in the effort?"
"No, that won't be necessary. My spy here has informed me that the Dark Lord is assaulting the school at Hogwarts even as we speak. I want you two to look the situation over," Fudge said.
"Shall we lend aid to those resisting the attack?" Septimus asked.
"Not yet," Fudge replied. "For now just watch and see how the battle goes. We don't want to lend aid to anyone until we're sure that the ultimate victor will be the Ministry of Magic."
"Of course, Minister, we will leave immediately. The rest of my team should be able to handle what's left of this attack," Septimus said.
Fudge started to turn away, but was stopped by a cough from the spy at his elbow. "Oh yes, one other thing," he said as an after thought. "I need the two of you to extract someone if possible. I believe I have a picture here."
"A boy?" Septimus asked as he received the tiny photo.
Lucius Malfoy peered out from beneath the hasty bandages that were wrapped around his head. "Yes, his name is Draco."
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