Disclaimer: I do not own anything of the 'Harry Potter' universe, nor do I lay any claim to the lyric bits that I use. No money is being made and a quick peek at my bank balance will attest to that fact.
A/N: Here we go again. As you have probably figured out by now, Hermione never had the chance to finish the Fidelis. Sorry again, but there's a slight cliffie at the end of this chappie, too. Couldn't be helped… I'm not about to post an 11,000 word chapter, this one's over 5400 as it is! Personally, I like this chapter… action, suspense, blood… what more could you want? If there is more that you want, leave me a review and let me know! I hope you all enjoy this. ^_^
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Chapter 26: Bloody Fidelis
London calling to the imitation zone
Forget it, brother, you can go at it alone
London calling to the zombies of death
Quit holding out - and draw another breath
London calling - and I don't wanna shout
But while we were talking I saw you nodding out
London calling, see we ain't got no high
Except for that one with the yellowy eyes.
Excerpt from the song, London Calling by The Clash.
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On a rocky peninsula that jutted out from the coast in northern Wales stood an old, abandoned lighthouse. A lone man with dirty black hair, a long, hooked nose and dressed in a rather worn and faded black cloak stood staring out through the cracked, dirty windows at the dark, windswept water crashing along the jagged cliffs below. He was shifting uncomfortably on his feet while anxiously fingering the wand in his hand.
A loud crack from the base of the lighthouse announced the arrival of the person he was waiting for. He turned away from the window just as an old, stooped woman made it to the top of the rickety spiral staircase and stepped onto the scaffolding that encircled the inside of the top of the tower.
"G'dee, Guvnah," the old hag cackled, "Ja'got tha scroo inna crock?"
Severus Snape, as well as most English-speaking people, had a difficult time deciphering the obscure dialect that hags seemed to favor. He was pretty sure that most words they use weren't words at all, but the message usually got across. He barely concealed the sneer as he impatiently answered, "Yes, and I trust that you kept the transaction secure, as I'm sure you realize that the goods that I gave to you were enscorcelled, and the Galleons were enchanted with a locator jinx? I assure you that any double cross will result in a very unpleasant experience for you.
The old hag bristled for only a moment before waving a dismissive hand, saying through sparse, crooked teeth, "A'course, guv, a'course… a fair cop, tha' is. Everthin's on tha Johnny, ta be sure. B'ere on tha witchin' 'morrer wit yer biter. There'll be a cotter settin off tha crack on sea… an' don' be late, tha cotter's won' be a'loiterin'."
He looked down his nose at the ancient hag and said in his silkiest voice, "Just so there's no misunderstanding… You say that everything has been arranged, and we're to be here at midnight tomorrow. Our transportation will be waiting, and we should best not be late because they won't wait for long, is that correct?"
"Aye, guv, tha's on yer nog."
He watched the hag as she descended the stairs while cackling under her breath. He heard her mutter as she disappeared from sight, "Bleedin' sot, nae unnerstan' tha Queen's English…"
He looked out through the dirty windows and watched the hag until she disappeared with a crack. He spent a few more minutes deep in thought while scanning the countryside.
He hadn't worried much about Draco these past few days. He was sure none of the Order would use the old headquarters since the Fidelis was broken, and he was sure that Potter wouldn't be fool enough to go there, and he didn't believe that any of the Death Eaters that knew of Grimmauld Place, namely Bellatrix and Narcissa, wouldn't dare be caught anywhere near the old manor. As long as Draco didn't decide to go out for a stroll around London, it was a near perfect hiding place for the boy until the arrangements for them to flee the country were complete.
He didn't like the fact that he was saddled with Draco. He had thought that the unbreakable vow would be fulfilled once Dumbledore was killed, but it appeared that Narcissa's wording of the vow made it so that he would have to 'keep Draco safe.' Not 'keep Draco safe until his mission was complete,' or 'until January third, two-thousand and twenty…' just to keep him safe… forever. If at any time Draco ended up in mortal danger, his own life would be forfeit. He knew this, and Dumbledore had known it, too,
Of course, Draco was being the quintessential 'Malfoy,' arrogant and brash, not caring at all for hiding out in the dirty old house, even though he knew that the entire wizarding world was looking for them, the good guys, the bad guys, and everyone in between. Being caught by either side would mean Snape's immediate demise, because having either the Ministry or the Death Eaters take Draco would certainly not fall under the category of 'keeping Draco safe.'
He would never be safe from Voldemort, so they could only hide from him. The only way he could think of to keep him safe from the Ministry was to modify his memories until he could be safely smuggled out of Britain. That way, if he were captured he couldn't give any testimony under veritaserum. Draco could still be sent to Azkaban for the role he played in allowing Death Eaters into Hogwarts, but given the fact that the dementors were long gone, 'the kiss' would no longer be an option and he would be relatively 'safe' in a cell. Even so, that was an eventuality that Snape wanted to avoid.
He nearly had a heart attack the day before when the proximity ward he set up around Grimmauld Place was activated, indicating that someone had entered the house. He returned there as quickly as he could, but found nothing out of place. Of course, he never did check the icebox where Ron had hidden Kotone's trunk and the components for the Fidelis.
He pulled a pocket watch from his cloak, flipped it open and watched the hands approach nine P.M. As he started down the stairs, he felt the crystal sphere in the pocket of his cloak vibrate energetically. He stopped in his tracks and cursed loudly when he realized that the Grimmauld Place ward had tripped again. In an instant, he was gone.
He appeared on the rooftop of a building across the way from Grimmauld Place. His eyes scanned the street for any sign of movement. Once he was sure there was nobody around, he apparated down to the green in front of Number Twelve and cast a hasty disillusionment on himself. As stealthily as he cold manage, he walked to the front door and saw that the detection seal he had placed on it was broken. He gripped his wand tightly and carefully stepped inside the dark entrance hall.
Disillusionment was a handy little trick to avoid being noticed. Although not completely invisible, you could blend in with your surroundings and remain undetected as long as you kept perfectly still and nobody came too close to you. He barely had time to step into a shadow when he heard the footsteps coming up the stairs from the kitchen. He held his breath as he watched Granger pass through the entrance hall, walking directly towards him. He knew that in a few more steps she would be able to clearly see him. He gripped his wand tightly, preparing to stun the girl when she suddenly stopped. A pensive look flashed across her face before she turned away and walked towards the staircase to the upper floors.
He silently let out his breath and followed the girl up the steps, making sure he kept to the shadows and maintained a discreet distance. He watched her enter the library and he muttered to himself, 'Of course, where else would that insufferable wench go?' He decided to continue up the stairs to the room where he had placed Draco. He looked in to see the boy peacefully sleeping in the large bed in the center of the room.
Snape quietly made his way out of the house and resumed his position on the roof across the street. He was relatively confident that Draco would sleep through the night, and judging by how exhausted the girl looked, she would probably leave before midnight. She would have to be a complete fool to stay in such an exposed and unprotected house for long.
An hour passed, then two, then two more with no sign of the Granger girl. He was starting to get nervous. He checked his watch and saw that it was well after three A.M. so he decided to go back inside, fully expecting to find the Granger girl asleep and drooling onto one of her precious books in the Black library.
What he didn't expect to find was Draco being held by a gaggle of Potter's cronies, nor did he expect that Potter himself, along with the half-breed girl that he had seen in the press, would be unconscious and apparently under guard. He had arrived too late to find out what had happened, but he wasn't overly concerned, for his main focus was to retrieve Draco and get him to the lighthouse before midnight.
Draco seemed safe enough where he was, locked in a room next to the study, so to avoid being discovered himself, he placed a detection seal on his door to alert him when it was opened. He then stealthily made his way to the roof and, after sealing the entrance, settled himself in the dark stairwell to get some desperately needed sleep.
He wasn't sure exactly how long he was asleep before the sounds of yelling and spell fire had abruptly awakened him. He threw open the door to the roof and cautiously looked down at the mass of black-cloaked figures in the street attacking the house.
Knowing that the wards on the house prevented people from apparating into or away from the property, but allowed apparition inside of the house, he spun on his heel and apparated directly into Draco's room. He had to get him out immediately.
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Benjamin Bones considered it a stroke of luck that he was assigned as one of the aurors to assist the Department of Magical Law Enforcement's investigation of 'The Boy Who Lived," as he, along with Hestia Jones and Dedalus Diggle, was also instructed by McGonagall to keep an eye on Harry for the Order. He soon found that it was rarely an easy feat, but regular checks of Tonks' tracking spell, the password to which was shared when Harry returned to Hogwarts the previous day, made it somewhat less of a pain when Harry chose to abruptly change locations. Having access to the Ministry's floo utilization records was a tremendous help as well.
The Floo record of a transfer between Hogwarts and an estate in London is what led Benjamin to be disillusioned and standing at the mouth of a dingy alley watching the former headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. He briefly checked his watch and saw that he had less than an hour to go before he would be relieved by Hestia so that he could leave to make his report to the auror office.
He shifted on his feet, working out the fatigue in his legs acquired from standing in one place for over twelve hours. He stretched each leg, and then leaned against the building, thinking despondently about how he should have packed a lunch when he saw the front door of Number Twelve fly open. It took him a few moments to realize who the thin, frazzled-looking witch and the gangly, red-headed wizard who stormed out through the door were. He looked on with mild curiosity as she began staking small bits of parchment around the perimeter of the building, and then began casting a series of spells around the area. He wasn't quite sure what the pair of teens were doing, but it looked as though they were setting up a ward of some sort. Being trained as both an auror and a healer, he was familiar with healing charms, jinxes, counter-curses and the like, but he never invested much time in learning about creating protective wards. He left that up to the people who were paid to do it.
His concern grew with each iteration of the spell Hermione was performing, seeing how she was becoming increasingly exhausted each time it was cast. He shifted uncomfortably as he watched the Weasley boy help the girl to her feet once again. He was about to rush across the street to assist them when he caught sight of a pair of cloaked figures that had just turned the corner and were strolling cautiously along the sidewalk towards Number Twelve. When the two figures caught sight of the two teens, they ducked into the yard of Number Seventeen. A moment later Ben clearly saw a messenger spell shoot into the air.
'Bugger,' he thought to himself as he slipped deeper into the alley and sent a messenger spell of his own to auror Headquarters, then cast his patronus, an unusually large ram, towards the opposite end of the alley to alert the Order of probable danger.
The next time Hermione cast the spell, he started in alarm as she collapsed onto the ground, clearly unconscious. He dared not make his presence known, having a bad feeling about what he thought was about to happen. Just as he had feared, as soon as the Weasley boy carried Hermione to the house, cracks of apparition filled the street as a score of Death Eaters appeared.
The figures darted out from Number Seventeen and began running towards Number Twelve. He could see that one of them was an older, rather slight man with an awkward gait to his stride, and the other was a tall, relatively attractive middle-aged woman with blonde hair and what appeared to be a permanent sneer etched on her face. The woman pointed towards Number Twelve as she ran and began yelling to her comrades, "There! He's in there! The house that should belong to me!" Instantly, the Death Eaters turned towards Number Twelve and began firing a barrage of spells at the doorway.
As luck would have it, Hestia Jones arrived early to relieve the watch on Harry. Moments after she apparated into the area, she saw Benjamin Bones' patronus approach her. The ram delivered it's message, that Grimmauld Place was under attack, and then disappeared. She quickly cast her own patronus, a rather cute looking koala, and sent it along before she quickened her pace towards the alley across the way from Number Twelve.
Being hopelessly outnumbered, Ben knew it would be suicide to act before assistance arrived. He was quite relieved when he saw the rather plump, black haired witch hurrying towards him from the back end of the alley. He backed into the shadows away from the mouth of the alley and dispelled the disillusionment.
As soon as Hestia neared, he motioned her to be quiet and said in a low but urgent whisper, "Did you get the message?"
She looked over Ben's shoulder towards the Death Eaters in the street when she nervously answered, "Yeah, and I sent it on… Is Harry still in there?"
Ben nodded as he turned back to the street. After a moment, he whispered, "Notice anything strange?"
Hestia watched as the Death Eaters continued to shout out hexes and curses, sending volley after volley of spells while inching closer to the doorway. Then it struck her, "They aren't using very powerful spells, are they? I mean, they're practically screaming out the incantations."
"Aye, and no unforgivables, either."
Ben took a closer look at the Death Eaters and came to a startling realization, "Merlin! Look at them, they're just kids!"
Hestia listened closely to the tone of the Death Eaters' voices and came to the same conclusion, that most of them looked and sounded as though they were fresh out of Hogwarts. She looked up at the lone, red-headed youth desperately trading spells with the attackers and said, "You're right, but we still have to give them time, he's not going to last long, even with those schoolyard hexes… where's Harry… and the others? Don't tell me that the Weasley boy is the only one there."
Ben shook his head absently as he watched the inexperienced wizards throwing mostly ineffective spells at the house. He raised his own wand and whispered, "Granger's there, but she didn't seem too fit to fight. I'm sure Potter's in there, but I haven't seen him. We have to buy them some time. Go behind that…" His voice trailed off when his eyes scanned the street and he noticed that the pair of cloaked figures that he first saw were nowhere in sight. Realization flashed in his eyes, "The back door! They're trying to sneak in the back way!"
Hestia said, "I'll go. I'm familiar with the house." She dashed towards the far end of the alley so that sound of her Apparation wouldn't alert the Death Eaters in the street and, with a twirl of her cloak, disappeared with a muffled crack for the other side of the block behind Number Twelve.
At exactly the same moment, a series of various cracks and pops from the west end of the block revealed a squad of aurors who immediately set upon the Death Eaters in the street. The aurors were accompanied by a team of hit-wizards, who began setting up anti-apparation wards.
Another set of sporadic cracks and pops from the east end of the street heralded the arrival of Order of the Phoenix, most of whom began sending a flurry of spells into the ranks of the death Eaters except for a pair of young red-headed wizards carrying a rather large case. The pair quickly ducked into the concealment of a nearby hedge and excitedly rummaged through the case, each pulling out colourful glass spheres that had pointy spikes protruding from it in odd directions. With eerily gleeful grins, they called out a warning to the nearby Order members, tossed the spiked spheres into the air and then watched in unbridled delight as they hovered high in the air above the Death Eaters
The Death Eaters in the street, seeing that they were surrounded and unable to apparate, redoubled their efforts to force their way into the house. None of them noticed a pair of huge, strangely coloured clouds silently appear from seemingly nowhere high above them. From within the clouds emerged a pair of immense metallic blue dragons, who began circling menacingly above the wizards, causing the advancing aurors to freeze in their tracks.
As the dragons' shadows passed over the street, a few of them glanced up and began screaming as the flying monstrosities suddenly went into a vertical dive towards the now panic stricken and thoroughly distracted Death Eaters. They scattered as the dragons neared, screeching horribly with their fanged maws stretched wide open.
In his desperate attempt to flee, one Death Eater tripped over his own cloak and landed flat on his face. He rolled over and his eyes widened in terror as one of the dragons sent a stream of crimson fire directly at him. Unable to move, he threw his arms over his face and let out a high-pitched squeal as the flames engulfed him.
The dragon spread its' wide, leathery wings and veered upwards back into the air and disappeared in a puff of coloured smoke. The Death Eater that lay on the sidewalk, tentatively pulled his arms from over his tear stained face, sat up and looked himself over in confusion while running his hands across his unblemished robes. He was laughing nervously as a red bolt sent by an advancing auror sent the man into unconsciousness.
All of the wizards figured out that the dragons were mere illusions, but by then it was far too late for the Death Eaters to resume the battle as most of their number were incapacitated as they desperately tried to avoid the phantasms.
The moment that the last Death Eater was taken down, Ministry obliviators appeared and began to round up what few muggles were witness to the battle, mostly vagrants and vagabonds that are wont to inhabit the rather run-down neighborhood.
The wizard who was in charge of the aurors, a man named Jack Catterall, began walking toward the group of wizards and witches that had assisted them in battling the Death Eaters. As he approached the milling group, he noted the red-headed ministry official along with the red-headed twins who were practically beside themselves in mirth, presumably the source of the illusionary dragons and were obviously Weasley's sons. He looked at the other faces in the group, and only recognized a few others, one being none other than the interim Headmistress of Hogwarts.
Catterall stopped walking and his brow furrowed as he thought, 'How on Earth did they happen to arrive here at the same time we did?' He turned around to see the auror that had sent the alert about the group of Death Eaters, Benjamin Bones, hurrying across the street towards the building that was under attack. The gears started turning furiously in his head. 'Bones is supposed to be on the team that's searching for Potter…' His eyes then drifted to the door of the building, covered in hex marks and left ajar. 'Is Potter in there? Was Bones here looking for him… or was he protecting him!'
Jack Catterall began running towards Number Twelve, calling out to his men, "Into the building, boys… I believe we got one more to bring in!"
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Kotone had no idea exactly how long she was out, but she certainly didn't feel as if she'd recovered much of her spent energy. She did remember waking up a few times, but before she could fully grasp consciousness, she was forced back into shadow, left to battle her way to the light once again.
It was only when she awoke to find the odd dove standing by the doorway of the room, leaning against the jamb fast asleep that she was able to take in her surroundings. She saw that her Shishi was lying unconscious in a nearby bed. She saw the twin, ethereal serpents entwined around each other, longing to join together but forever separated due to how they were originally torn. She knew then that it was much too late for her to do anything about what had happened to him.
If only Washi hadn't interfered, she would have been able to take the souls into herself. She was expendable. If she were to join her ancestors, nobody would miss her. She's just an ugly animal. She'd been feared and hated for her entire life. The only two people in the world who truly loved her were gone, and now the one person who had ever shown her a modicum of kindness has his own life hanging in the balance. She wondered why had Washi stopped her. She got the impression that the older witch didn't dislike her, yet she seemed to be on the receiving end of more than her fair share of her hexes. Did she stop her thinking that she was hurting her Shishi, or did she stop her because she actually cared for someone so undeserving of that concern? If that was the case, she had no right to make that decision for her. She made the choice to protect Shishi, to sacrifice herself, but that choice was taken away from her.
By the time she reached the entrance hall, she was fuming and ready to give Washi a piece of her mind, but she was totally unprepared for what she had found there. She heard the shouts of people out in the street and saw Ron pushing the front door closed against a barrage of hexes, one of which squarely hit the top hinge. Although the hex was surprisingly weak, it was just strong enough to shatter the rusted top hinge, knocking the door askew and making it impossible to fully close. As Ron drew his wand and began sending his own curses back into the street, Kotone was looking back and forth between him and the unconscious Hermione, unsure of what was going on or what to do.
Seeing the state that the older witch was in, Kotone's anger drained away. She walked to the bench that Hermione was sprawled across and knelt down. She reached out, opened one of Hermione's eyes, and saw that her pupil was fixed and barely visible under the upper lid. Kotone closed her own eyes and rested her forehead against Hermione's. She relaxed her mind, reaching out to touch the other witch's consciousness.
Kotone found herself standing in a small, brilliantly lit room with white walls and floors, but with no doors or windows. In the center of the room stood a large four-poster bed with pure white sheets and lacey, transparent hangings. She looked down on the bed to see an exhausted eagle that was peacefully sleeping there.
She reached out her hand and touched the eagle, saying softly but urgently, "Washi-chan, you must wake up."
The eagle's eyes blinked open against the light and seemed to gaze around absently for a few moments before wearily focusing on the young half-witch standing beside the bed. Her head dropped heavily back into the pillows as she tiredly slurred, "Go 'way. Don' wanna wake up yet."
"So sorry, Washi-chan, your Hyou needs you, he is in much trouble."
Hermione lifted her head out of the pillows just in time to see Kotone reaching out a finger towards her face. Before she could react, the young girl's fingertip made contact with her forehead.
It was as if lightning had struck her. She bolted upright on the hard wooden bench, her head was whipping around, trying to take in her surroundings. She realized that she was in the entrance hall when she saw Ron standing in the doorway, throwing curse after curse out into the street. She looked down to the floor to find Kotone sprawled flat on her back, holding her head and softly moaning, which sounded more like the whimpering of some sort of a large, wounded animal.
"Ron! What's going on?"
Ron glanced back in surprise, but then returned his concentration back to the battle when a blue hex soared by his head. He replied with no small amount of anxiety, "Death Eaters… Stupefy… they arrived… Reducto… just as you finished the last… Stupefy… bit of the spell… Impedimenta… Why didn't it work?"
She suddenly remembered trying to perform the Fidelis, but she couldn't remember how far along she had progressed with it. "How many times did I cast the Praesidium?"
"Seven," he answered between spells, "Well, fourteen in total…"
So, she did complete the first portion of the spell! She gathered the remaining items that were scattered on the floor and went through the door to the receiving room. She kicked away a moldy old runner carpet to reveal the hardwood floor underneath. After setting the items aside, she opened the book to the page that she marked. Her eyes darted across the page as she silently mouthed the words that she was reading. After a few moments, she picked up a pouch that held what looked like baking flour and carefully poured it onto the floor creating a wide circle. She drew her wand and frantically etched out the familiar five-pointed star within the circle, then picked up a small pouch of tiny crystal beads and placed them at each of the tips of the star and onto where the lines of the star intersected. As soon as the final bead was placed, they flashed with a bright yellow light before sinking into the floor.
In order for her to complete the spell, she needed Ron in the circle. Hermione dashed from the room and back into the entrance hall to see Kotone shakily picking herself from the floor and Ron still trading spells with the advancing Death Eaters.
Hermione ran behind Ron and saw the ensuing battle between the Death Eaters, the Order and the Ministry's aurors. Thankful for the distraction that the reinforcements provided, she took Ron's arm and began pulling him away from the door while saying, "Come on! The spell's ready… you just need to…" She never got the chance to finish the sentence.
Hermione felt Ron's arm jerk out of her grasp. She spun around and saw the blank look on his face.
"What's the matter? We have to get this done!" Hermione pleaded. She reached for his arm again, but she froze when Ron coughed, spraying the front of her shirt with blood. She looked down and saw a grisly wound in his abdomen, still smoking and with large bits of splintered wood protruding from it.
"Oh, my! Ron!" screamed Hermione as Ron let out a long, rattling breath and then collapsed into her arms. Tears were streaming down her cheeks as she gently laid him down on the floor.
"Oh, Ron, I'm so sorry! Don't you die on us!" said Hermione as she pulled out the shards of wood and carefully moved the smouldering cloth from around the oozing wound. She didn't know if her limited array of healing spells would do much for that severe of a wound.
Hermione was distracted for a moment when she heard terrified screaming from outside. When she turned back to Ron, Kotone was kneeling beside his head, staring down in to his half-opened eyes. Her breath caught in her throat when she realized what the little half-witch was doing. Hermione appreciated what she was attempting, but she also knew that she was in no condition to even heal a nosebleed without killing herself. She briefly wondered if Kotone had some sort of death wish before shaking herself out of her shock and grabbing her on her shoulders and pulling her away from her stricken friend.
The moment that Kotone's connection with Ron was broken, he let out a loud moan and promptly passed out. She glanced down at Ron's belly and was thankful to see that the wound, while still open, was no longer profusely bleeding. She turned to Kotone to see that she was sitting on the floor, massaging her temple with one hand and wiping the blood that was seeping from her nose with the other.
She looked back to Ron and remembered why she had come into the hall, "Kotone, can we wake him?"
"Not for two hour," she replied softly while still massaging her head, "hurt is bad, but not to die."
Hermione looked into Kotone's eyes. She hoped that Harry knew what he was saying when he said that he could trust the tiny half-demon. She stood from the floor, took one of Kotone's hands and helped her up, saying, "Come, we must hurry."
Hermione led Kotone into the receiving room and wordlessly placed her in the circle. She drew her wand and said loudly, "Animadverto Ab Alienum!" She touched the tip of her wand to the circle and finished the incantation, "Ad Fides Cobo Custodia Cello Sospesium Fidelis!"
The circle flared brightly for an instant before a rippling sphere of magic burst away from the circle. For a few moments, it felt as if she were floating in a limitless black void, her senses could detect no light or sound. Suddenly, the circle burst into bright orange flames, and disappeared just as quickly, leaving no trace at all around the perplexed half-witch.
Outside of the house, Hestia Jones managed to stun the male figure as he attempted to scale the wall into the rear courtyard of Number Twelve. She bound him with a hasty Incarcerous before trying to scale the wall herself to pursue the woman who had climbed inside a moment before. As her hands grasped the top of the wall, she was thrown roughly on her behind by a wave of force that came from the house. By the time she got to her feet, Number Twelve Grimmauld Place had disappeared.
Meanwhile, in the street in front of the building, Jack Catterall was just about to step over the property line when a visible, rippling wave of energy burst from the house. When it reached the property's boundaries a series of loud snaps resounded through the air as each of the runes around the manor combusted in puffs of orange smoke. All of the wizards in the street gaped in awe as Number Twelve seemed to implode, instantly compressing into nothingness, with the buildings on either side closing in to fill the space that was vacated.
Catterall turned to Ben and said, "Mr. Bones, I believe you have some explaining to do."