Arthur and Anduin Apparated approximately fifty yards from the devastated McKinnon residence. The impact of their sudden arrival—two wizards materializing in a secured zone—caused the Aurors on perimeter duty to instinctively snap their wands up, their protective charms flaring to life.
The moment they recognized Arthur Weasley and the young wizard beside him, the tension eased; the wands lowered, and the harsh expressions softened into profound relief mixed with shared, professional grief.
Frank and Alice Longbottom immediately detached themselves from a nearby cluster of investigators to greet the newcomers. Frank's face was grimy with residual blast residue, and his eyes, usually warm, held a deep, exhausting sadness.
"You're here," Frank stated, his voice flat. "This is Marlene and her fiancé. They're the closest. The other four members of her family are still being recovered from the rubble. The Prewett brothers—Gideon and Fabian—they're further north, maybe a mile, in a thicket of scrubland. Moody and Crouch are checking the area now. I'll take you there, Arthur."
Anduin gazed at the scene. The two bodies, already covered by stark white sheets, lay tragically still. The house next to them was reduced to a violent, unreadable ruin—a catastrophic failure of architecture.
The sheer density of the concentrated magical damage—the deep, vitrified scoring on the foundation, the way the surrounding soil had been scorched into obsidian chips—told a silent, brutal story. Anduin could only imagine the ferocity and sheer asymmetry of the battle that had unfolded here.
Alice looked at Arthur with an expression of immense sorrow and fatigue. "How is Molly? Did you manage to tell her the news gently?" she asked, her voice cracking slightly. "Frank and I... we were in agony when we first arrived at the scene. We debated fiercely about how to even notify you, knowing what this would do to her."
Arthur inhaled deeply, trying to maintain the professional composure that was already fraying at the edges.
"Thank you for everything, Alice. Your caution was wise. But we were all with Miss Longbottom when Frank's Patronus arrived. Molly overheard the full message—she knows everything now. Augusta is with her, keeping watch. We left as quickly as we could, as Molly... she's not well enough to be left alone right now. Anduin and I came straight here."
Alice exchanged a heavy, knowing glance with Frank; they knew the terrifying volatility of extreme emotional shock, especially on an expectant mother.
"Frank, you take Arthur," Alice instructed her husband. "I need to stay here. The McKinnon family's official representative and the Ministry's record-keepers will be Apparating in soon. I have to wait and make sure the bodies are handled correctly."
Frank nodded, his resolve hardening. He grabbed Arthur's arm, and Arthur, in turn, clutched Anduin tightly. With a second, jarring CRACK, the three of them vanished, leaving the haunted remains of the McKinnon home behind.
They materialized in a small, remote thicket of woodland, a short, disorienting Apparition north of the original attack site. Here, the atmosphere was different—less chaotic blast damage, more evidence of a sustained, tactical engagement.
A few Aurors stood guard, their faces drawn. Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody—immediately recognizable by his deeply scarred face and the ever-swiveling blue magical eye—and Barty Crouch Sr., the imposing Director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, were surveying the ground with grim, meticulous attention.
Gideon and Fabian Prewett also lay on the earth, also covered in white sheets, their forms shockingly still beneath the linen.
Frank exchanged quick, silent nods with Moody and Crouch, acknowledging the grim reality of their current mission. Anduin immediately began his own silent, crucial assessment, trailing Arthur.
He moved his eyes over the damage to the trees. The surrounding bark was deeply scored by spell-fire, but unlike the concentrated ruin at the McKinnon house, these scars were linear and dispersed. The marks followed a distinct path, leading south, back toward the main attack.
Anduin concluded that the Prewett brothers must have been driven from the direction of Marlene's house—not necessarily arriving at the house itself, but intercepting the attackers and immediately being overwhelmed.
Internal Analysis (Anduin): The pattern suggests a fierce, desperate retreat. The spell density on the northern trees is lower, indicating the Death Eaters caught them here, forcing them into a final stand. The concentration of black char marks—Dark Magic residue—is far heavier here than on the retreat path. The crucial factor is the number.
If four wizards (Marlene, her fiancé, and the two Prewetts) fought against a single attacker, the damage would be negligible, or the Aurors would have found bodies stacked. The level of destruction at the house and the length of the pursuit means they faced overwhelming numbers. At a minimum, I'd estimate eight Death Eaters were involved in the total operation, split between the assault and the ambush.
"It looks like the opposing force was substantial," Anduin murmured to Frank, keeping his voice low. "If they had arrived before Marlene's family was killed, the four of them could have held off a small force for a while. The damage suggests they were immediately outnumbered. So, at least four to six Death Eaters were dedicated to this perimeter attack alone."
At that moment, Arthur took a solemn, agonizing step forward. With a shaky hand, he lifted the edge of the white cloth. Gideon Prewett's pale face was revealed. It was covered in dust and streaked with blood that had dried to a dark maroon.
There were deep, fresh scars—not just from spell-fire, but impact wounds—clearly indicating he had fought with the strength and ferocity Arthur knew him for. He had died after a grueling, vicious battle.
Arthur's face crumpled. He was no longer the composed Ministry official; he was a grieving brother.
A sorrowful Barty Crouch, stiff and formal even in tragedy, approached. "I am so deeply sorry, Arthur," he said, his voice surprisingly soft. "This is a terrible day. Gideon and Fabian were truly heroes of the Order and this war. Their courage was legendary. I hope you can find some small solace in knowing how bravely they died."
Arthur looked down at his two murdered brothers, and the tears he had held back for Molly's sake finally erupted. But even in his pain, he found a fierce pride. He shook his head, standing tall over the bodies. "They were the pride of our family," he choked out, his voice thick with agony. "Those damned Death Eaters will pay for this. They will live in our hearts forever."
Anduin regarded the bodies of the two members of the Order of the Phoenix. They were severely wounded. The physical evidence suggested the final engagement lasted at least half an hour. The fatal blow, visible on Fabian's torso, was a deep, magical laceration—a wound that would have interfered with his core magical control.
This wound strongly supported Moody's later theory: the Death Eaters must have been using anti-Apparition or heavy Stunners, preventing the two brothers from escaping the woods.
Arthur managed to compose himself enough to speak, his professional necessity overriding his personal devastation. As he carefully collected his brothers' bodies into a tight, temporary bundle, he looked at Moody and Crouch and asked, his voice steadying, "Tell me exactly what happened."
Moody, his magical eye whirling to take in the surroundings one last time, began to outline the disaster:
"It began around noon. A standard, focused assault by a group of Death Eaters on the McKinnon farm. Marlene was clearly the primary target. We suspect the family resisted, and during that initial chaos, she managed to send a message to one person: Fabian Prewett."
Moody paused, his gaze fixed on Arthur. "They gave Marlene a two-way mirror for Christmas last year, Arthur. A pair of custom communication mirrors. She must have activated it immediately. That was their only mistake, the only crack we can find. The Prewett brothers rushed immediately to her aid—their first instinct—but they failed to send a general alert to the rest of the Order or the Ministry, hoping they could handle it themselves."
Moody's estimate of the McKinnon family's state was grim: "It's highly probable the family was already dead or dying by the time Gideon and Fabian arrived. They intercepted the attackers and were immediately outnumbered and outmatched. They fought like demons, Arthur. The sheer output of magic was incredible, but they were forced to retreat north, into this woodland, buying time."
He pointed to the scorch marks. "We see traces of high-level Dark Arts here. They were executed. Fabian has the tell-tale sign of a near-perfect Impedimenta just moments before the fatal spell—a clear attempt to block Apparation. They used two or three wizards just to pin them down while the main force finished the job."
"The Ministry's reaction?" Arthur asked, his voice sharp with professional interrogation.
"We detected the combined anomalous magical signature approximately ten minutes after the initial attack on the McKinnon house began," Crouch interjected, his voice heavy with self-reproach.
"We deployed the Strikers and Aurors immediately, but the Apparation and coordination took time. By the time our advance team reached the McKinnon wreckage, the Prewett brothers were already in the final throes of their stand. We arrived too late to provide timely backup. The bodies were still warm when we reached them, but the Death Eaters had already slipped through our perimeter."
Arthur nodded, the heavy, painful details filling in the gaps of his grief. His brothers had been true heroes, fighting a desperate, losing battle while the entire magical establishment scrambled, too slow to save them. He gently secured the makeshift shroud around his brothers, preparing to take them home for a proper burial.
Just as Arthur signaled his intent to leave, a woman, moving with the practiced swiftness of an Auror, Apparated directly into their guarded circle. It was Emmeline Vance, her severe expression indicating another piece of grim, necessary Ministry work. Emmeline, whom Anduin vaguely recognized from a previous meeting, looked exhausted.
She approached Crouch. "Sir, the McKinnon family representatives have arrived at the first scene. Alice sent me to inform you. They need your authority to proceed with the collection."
"Thank you, Emmeline," Barty Crouch said, nodding to Emmeline Vance. He then turned back to Arthur and Anduin, his voice regaining its bureaucratic stiffness. "Excuse me, I must return immediately to offer what comfort I can to Marlene's family. A tragic day." Crouch Apparated with a pop, leaving the small group.
Emmeline Vance then turned to Arthur, her own grief evident. "I'm so sorry, Arthur. I never expected this. Gideon and Fabian were our most trusted comrades-in-arms. Their loss is devastating to the Order."
Arthur silently nodded his acceptance of her condolences and was about to signal Anduin for their final, desperate journey home when the most terrifying sound yet cut through the somber quiet. A different, hauntingly familiar Patronus—a magnificent white vulture—flew past Anduin's ear, the light almost blinding in its intensity.
"That's my mother's Patronus! Augusta's guardian spirit!" Frank Longbottom yelled, his professional composure instantly cracking into genuine fear. "Did something happen to Neville?"
Arthur and Anduin looked at the luminous bird with agonizing, gut-wrenching dread, their hope that it was just a simple update dwindling with every passing second. They were surrounded by death, and now their last pillar of support seemed to be crumbling. Unfortunately, their worst fears were realized.
The Patronus stopped in front of Anduin, Augusta's clear, frantic voice echoing from the magical projection:
"Anduin, are you still with Arthur? Listen carefully! Molly's heart is shattered—the shock was too much. Her waters broke immediately. She has gone into premature labor and is in distress. I have rushed her to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Injuries immediately. You must come find us at the Creature-Induced Trauma Ward, Fourth Floor. I've contacted Lady Diggory—she's arrived and is looking after all the children at The Burrow. Get here now! I need you!"
The message was a cruel, final blow.