Black pillars of smoke descended from the turbulent sky landing upon this ravaged, blood-soaked earth.
The cruel, wanton laughter of the Death Eaters and the dark wizards under the Dark Lord's command turned the faces of the Ministry's surviving forces gray with dread and despair.
They were hopelessly outnumbered. Everyone could see it.
"If you lick my boots right now like the pathetic blood traitor you are, I might be merciful enough to spare your miserable life, Black!"
Bellatrix stood upon a ridge of broken rubble, her wild dark hair was whipping in the wind like serpents. She watched Sirius's tense expression with glee, laughing with utterly wild abandon.
"I'm afraid I can't possibly match that fawning grovel you perfect so skillfully when you're licking Voldemort's robes, dear cousin Bellatrix—"
Sirius's voice emerged laced with disdainful coldness.
"How DARE you speak his name, you filthy piece of blood-traitor trash!"
Sirius's cutting words, delivered with disdain, succeeded perfectly in enraging Bellatrix beyond all thought. The woman shrieked like a wounded animal and charged down the slope with abandon, intent on settling their long-standing family accounts with Sirius right here and now.
"Don't be rash, Bella! Control yourself!"
A wizard cloaked in black robes who hadn't yet shown his face called out. The voice was easily recognizable to anyone who knew him as Lucius Malfoy's tones, though he was clearly trying to maintain anonymity.
"Don't forget what the Dark Lord specifically commanded you to do!"
"I can kill him first and THEN go carry out my orders! I'm going to kill him first, and nobody else touches him—he's mine by right!"
Bellatrix screamed maniacally. The curse from her violently slashing wand triggered a violent explosion directly before where Sirius and Moody stood, though the blast didn't actually find its mark.
"Take Norus away from here—he's completed his mission!"
Moody flicked his wand, using a levitation charm to toss the unconscious, bloodied Thanatos toward the stunned Tafir who caught the body awkwardly.
Then Moody swept his wand through the air in a complex pattern, carving visible magical ripples into existence that spread like waves.
"You've lifted the Anti-Apparition Charm, Alastor!"
Sirius, settling into a battle-ready stance with his wand raised, shouted in surprise.
"There's no point to maintaining it anymore!"
Moody deflected a vicious curse that Bellatrix had fired blindly while running toward them. Then he shouted urgently at Tafir, who was struggling to support Thanatos's dead weight:
"Take him to King's Cross Station! Find Bryan! Go now!"
In an instant, the convergence of multiple spells aimed simultaneously at Tafir's position blazed brighter than the sun itself.
But Moody had anticipated this response. He swung his wand with a thunderous roar channeling significant magical power—
A solid stone wall shot up from the ground before Tafir, buying him a precious seconds of protection and time.
That second was enough.
The escape of two insignificant minor players didn't even register as important in Bellatrix's increasingly unhinged eyes. She finally reached Sirius's position, closing the distance between them, her wand was slashing down repeatedly in a flurry of murderous strikes!
Sirius deflected the incoming barrage of curses with a sweep of his own wand. Watching Bellatrix charge at him with such manic fury and hatred, a fierce expression emerged on his own face as well. He took a great stride forward to meet her in direct battle, abandoning defense for offense!
"The Dark Lord seems to have given his Death Eaters certain specific orders before sending them here. Whatever those orders are, Sirius, we absolutely need to stop them from being carried out!"
Moody said in a low, urgent voice.
A knowing gleam flashed in Sirius's gray eyes. He glanced discreetly, carefully at the masked wizard who had stupidly shouted that information aloud. He gave Moody an almost invisible, then strode forward to engage Bellatrix.
Boom!
But just as the two estranged cousins were about to clash properly, ruins that had already collapsed suddenly exploded without warning. Rubble flew in all directions.
Under the vigilant, shocked gaze of the entire Death Eater army, magical apparitions began flying up from beneath the ground in an seemingly endless stream!
Just as the dark wizard army had descended moments before, these dense apparitions of reinforcements circled in the sky for a few rounds. Then they landed one after another in defensive positions near Moody and the surviving defenders.
Rufus Scrimgeour, emerging from his apparition state looking battle-ready and fierce, nodded curtly at Moody. Then he fixed his sharp gaze on the dark wizard army that seemed to blanket the hills and ruins like a plague. Finally, his piercing eyes settled specifically on Bellatrix Lestrange who had frozen mid-step at this unexpected development.
"Bellatrix Lestrange—"
Scrimgeour's lion-like amber pupils shot out a falcon's piercing stare, his tone was icy and cutting.
"Did the Dark Lord send you crawling back here to turn yourself in?"
"Ptui!"
Bellatrix spat on the ground with disgust, glaring with venom at Scrimgeour. Her entire body trembled with rage.
"Ministry lapdog!"
The arrival of nearly a fifty hybrid Aurors partially evened out the numerical disadvantage between the two opposing sides. Curiously, no one on either side seemed particularly surprised by this current turn of events.
Sirius, positioned at the very front of the Ministry lines had been discreetly observing the wizard he was now almost certain was Lucius Malfoy. Through the chaos, he saw Malfoy quietly retreating back through the Death Eater ranks while both sides remained locked in this tense standoff without yet engaging in full battle.
This discovery distracted Sirius for a critical moment—a dangerous lapse in concentration that the Bellatrix immediately caught and exploited.
A vicious, triumphant smile split her lips as her wand suddenly shot up. A curse flew like an arrow released from its bowstring, aimed with deadly precision straight at Sirius's chest!
"You're still as despicable and underhanded as ever, Bellatrix—"
Bang, bang!
Two successive explosive sounds announced the arrival of Frank and Alice Longbottom directly before Sirius in protective positions.
Frank swept his hand up with speed, his shield charm blocked the strike inches from Sirius's body. The curse dissipated blandly against the barrier.
Compared to when they had first awakened from their long comas just a few months ago, Frank and Alice's bodies had filled out considerably with proper nutrition and care. Their complexions were now no different from anyone else's, showing healthy color and vitality.
However, as they stared directly at Bellatrix Lestrange—the woman who had tortured them into insanity who had stolen fourteen years of their lives; both their faces bore an expression of icy, sharp coldness.
"The Longbottoms."
Even Bellatrix couldn't help but be momentarily stunned at the sudden sight of these two particular people standing before her. Her eyes went wide however, she quickly recovered and put on a false smile.
"I heard you both woke up from St. Mungo's—I was absolutely shocked by the news. Oh, but it makes me so happy to see you've recovered! We have so much catching up to do!"
"Sirius—"
Frank Longbottom turned partially to look at Sirius behind him. His face no longer bore its usual good-natured, humorous smile, but instead—
"If you don't mind stepping aside, Alice and I would very much like to personally avenge the fourteen years that were stolen from us."
"But you two have—"
Sirius hesitated, not immediately agreeing to the request.
"We've completely recovered, Sirius—"
Alice kept her eyes fixed steadily on Bellatrix.
"And I think we can both agree that Bellatrix truly deserves a punishment far more severe than simple imprisonment in Azkaban could ever provide. But it would be better if you weren't the one to deliver it."
"All right then—"
Sirius pressed his lips together in a tight line and uttered his agreement, stepping back to give them room.
"Have the Death Eaters come out in full force this time?"
Kingsley Shacklebolt's steady, strong voice suddenly appeared from behind Moody. He had arrived together with Hagrid, both of them were taking in the battlefield situation.
"Is that... is that Golgomath?"
Hagrid stared with shock at the massive giant wearing the goblin helmet as a trophy, now impaled on something and clearly dying. His eyes went wide with recognition and shock.
"I wouldn't mistake that particular goblin.... Oh!"
Seeing all the other giants scattered across various locations throughout the ruins, their blood literally staining the earth red in spreading pools, Hagrid sniffled sadly and emotionally but said nothing more.
"We haven't lost too many of our own people in this disaster, have we?"
Arthur had also arrived with the reinforcements. The spectacular scene of two large groups of wizards facing off against each other across the rubble scattered battlefield left him momentarily shaken as well, his face had turned pale.
This was war.
"Losses are unavoidable, Arthur!"
Moody's magical eye spun rapidly in its socket, tracking multiple threats simultaneously as he spoke in his gravelly voice.
"Perhaps we'll all die here today on this blood-soaked ground... but if we can capture or kill all these scums, it'll be worth any price we pay!"
"Where's Bryan? Why isn't he here?"
The arriving reinforcements had intensely reduced the pressure on Sirius and the handful of survivors who had been holding the line alone. He looked at Hagrid, seeking information.
"According to the plan we all reviewed, you should have returned the seized gold to Ministry custody with Bryan at King's Cross by now?"
"Kingsley's gold transport train arrived at the station not long ago, right on schedule. We were in the middle of unloading all those heavy chests when those two bounty hunters appeared right in front of us through Apparition and explained the desperate situation here very roughly—"
Hagrid wiped at his moistened eyes with one massive hand.
"Bryan told all of us to come here immediately to provide support and reinforcements. He stayed behind at King's Cross Station personally to guard the gold we'd already unloaded."
'At a critical time like this, he still has the presence of mind to worry about that bloody gold?!'
Sirius couldn't help but complain internally. However, he immediately realized upon further reflection that Bryan was probably guarding against something.
He always thought three moves ahead.
"I'll only say this once, so listen carefully—"
The howling wind whipped Scrimgeour's official robes with a rustling sound. He looked coldly at the dark wizard army across from them, his voice was carrying clearly across the no-man's land between the forces.
"If you're willing to surrender yourselves into Ministry custody right now, immediately, I can personally recommend to Minister Bones that your sentences be reduced based on cooperation. But if you continue to be stubborn and resist..."
He left the threat hanging, unfinished but perfectly clear.
Scrimgeour's words did indeed cause some commotion among the Death Eater ranks. Though it was only some commotion.
"In that case—"
Scrimgeour's face turned grim as stone. He slowly raised his right hand high above his head—
BOOM!
The very instant the Ministry's new Head of Magical Law Enforcement brought his raised right hand down with decisive, chopping motion—two massive torrents of magical violence finally crashed together!
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