The magic of the Meadows family
As one might write in a heartwarming novel, the weather must match the weather during the darkest ritual. The sun must be setting behind the horizon, and it must be pouring purple flames on the surrounding objects. The wind should flutter the leaves of the trees, and the birds should sing anxiously or be silent. In our case, however, nature obviously did not know that she had to react in any way, and so the sun was just about to set, there was not a cloud in the sky, and a light wind was throwing a few snowflakes in our faces. February was coming to an end, so the cold tentacles of the chill were trying to get under the warm clothes that didn't help much at a time like this.
- Arthur should be here soon. - The godfather was as pale as death and clenched his jaws tightly. - Your job is to stand outside the outer circle and support us when we need it.
- I remember, Tramp," I shuddered slightly at what was about to happen today.
As far as I knew, the two dozen aurors sent to Hogwarts were now working with the deans to ensure the students' leisure time and to make sure that no troublemakers dared to venture outside the faculty lounges, the windows of which were carefully sealed by the joint spells of the four deans and the Headmaster. This was done so that no one would even suspect how dark a ritual was being performed not far from Hogwarts by Alliance supporters fighting the Dark Lord.
A ring of all the survivors of Brown's aurors' almost non-stop skirmishes should have cut off any casual witnesses, even to the most brutal measures - if the Lord learnt that a colossal trap was being prepared for the Dementors, all sacrifices would be in vain.
- Good afternoon, gentlemen," Alastor's son, pale blue, appeared in the clearing, leaning heavily on a thick, oddly curved staff adorned with a faintly glimmering red crystal.
- Hello to you, too," Sirius said nervously, casting a warming spell on himself.
- Where's the material? - Arthur had clearly drunk some kind of potion that had completely cut off all his emotions.
- It'll be here in a moment. - Sirius grimaced.
With a quiet clap, the aurors escorting the prisoners appeared. A few of the Lord's supporters, unfortunately captured alive, and a dozen officials sentenced to death for giving Voldemort information that led to the deaths of people. Fifteen men in all.
- Not many, but it'll do," the wizard grinned coldly as he looked round at the line of prisoners, each of whose heads had been carefully covered with a spell that turned their features into a misty mask. - All under Imperius?
- Yes," said Brown, who was the last to arrive in the clearing. - Everyone you asked to be delivered.
- Good," Arthur turned round, beginning to draw a complex pattern on the ground with his staff.
- Merlin help us," Sirius breathed out, throwing his heavy coat to the ground. - And may this be the last shit we have to get into in this bloody war.
The Aurors, meanwhile, were taking up positions, continuing to cast more and more dangerous spells on the approaches to the ritual site. Spells to search for animagi, magical watchers, invisibles, familiars, and other possible ways to find out what was going on in the clearing very close to Hogwarts followed one after another, showing the absence of prying eyes.
To distract myself, I thought back to the last conversation I'd had in the Aurorate barracks with members of Brown's squad and the most trusted Aurors.
Each of you has taken an oath to keep quiet about what you're about to see, but just in case," a scowling Sirius Black had been pacing an hour ago in front of the line of wizards standing at attention. - The Alliance is not interested in mass casualties among the Aurorate and our supporters, which are inevitable if we fight the Dementors without the use of forbidden magic. The attack on Hogwarts is one of the most important targets for our noseless friend.
A few chuckles were in response to the godfather's joke.
- So we've made a hard decision," Sirius looked around the gathering. - The Blood Mage will perform a ritual that will allow us to destroy or at least capture the Dementors if they attack Hogwarts, where almost all the underage wizards of England are now gathered. We cannot afford to lose children under any circumstances.
The agreeing grunts of the aurors showed that the dark wizard's argument was accepted.
- So when you see the ritual - remember that it is done for the lives of other wizards, - Sirius finished his speech. - And may Merlin and the gods you believe in help us."
- Ready," Arthur muttered as he finished his artwork.
Now there was a huge, multibeam star on the ground, decorated with hundreds of Runes, scribbles, and all the other magogeometry that my teachers in France had failed to instil in me. I envied Arthur's talent in drawing the complicated diagram from memory.
Standing in front of one of the beams, the mage continued.
- Lord Black, place the mortals in front of the beams, one at the end of each beam, and order them not to move.
The godfather waved his wand, casting a Submission spell on each of the prisoners standing to the side, and concentrated on controlling the crowd of men under his control.
- 'Very well,' Arthur nodded, 'Lord Black, when I say, you will have to kill everyone standing along the beams in succession, starting with the one standing to my left. A blood magic master could do it himself, but I'm not that good at controlling the star.
- Good. - Sirius pulled out a tiny flask and took a sip from it before tossing it over to me, accompanying it with the comment, -Felix Felicis and Muggle spirit.
A spicy wave travelled through my body for a moment as I sipped the concoction Slughorn had made in the cellars of the Bleck mansion.
Arthur gritted his teeth, raised his staff high above his head, which immediately glowed purple, and thrust it with force right into the centre of the carefully drawn figure. Thin rays of purple glow swept the clearing in a frequent net.
A long, mournful litany sounded, spoken in a language I did not recognise. The words were not like classical Latin, nor like the jerky phrases that were the basis for the spells of the Bleks. And with each spoken word it was as if a dark cloud descended on the clearing, absorbing into the wizards who were casting the spell.
- Avada Kedavra. - One of the mortal figures shook, but immediately crumbled to dust. The star blinked, and the grooves in the ground were no longer scarlet rays, but actual blood.
A strange, unpleasant sensation pierced me, and for the first time I smelled what was called the smell of death in the diaries of my ancestors, who used dark magic to great effect. And involuntarily I thought about what kind of enemy those old wizards had fought against in the days before Hogwarts and the land was shaken by the heavy footsteps of goblin armies, when there were still enchanted fortresses of true elves in the forests, and on a dark night you could face not only a burglar, but also the demons of the underworld. Whoever that mysterious enemy was, for the sake of defeating whom the ancestors had created the blackest of black spells, he had vanished without a trace, and there were no written sources about him. Arthur, using a wild mixture of death energy and blood magic, was pulling and pulling thin pale purple threads from somewhere on the edge of reality, spreading around, slowly encircling the huge castle in a thick ring. Though I stood quite far from the ritual, I could feel the growing aching pain throughout my body as Arthur stood leaning heavily on his staff.
In the centre of the ritual there were only four people on their feet when Arthur suddenly staggered backwards, grasping the staff with both hands. Even from a distance, blood could be seen flowing from his mouth, and the ring of purple fire around the castle was not yet closed.
The godfather raised his hand and sent some kind of healing spell towards the blood mage. Arthur straightened, signalling for Sirius to continue.
Red flashes flashed in the distance, near the cordon line, as someone, either too curious or too cheeky, decided to ask what spells were going on in the Forbidden Forest. A moment later, the red flashes changed to green - the guests were not accidental. The remaining Aurors rushed in the direction from which the intruders were coming, and soon the skirmish was over.
- So be it," Arthur said, pulling his staff from the ground.
The ring of purple fire glowed with an almost unbearable light, then went out. The cloud of blackness shrank, pulling together into a single point in the centre of the circle.
- Recoil! - Arthur shouted suddenly. - Sirius, hold on!
The circle was flooded with blackness, and I put up a shield, but despite my strength, I was knocked to the ground, and the trees at the edge of the clearing crackled.
- Sirius! - I literally flew to my feet, rushing over to the wizards lying on the ground. Aurors and a man in a blue and white healer's robe ran towards us from the forest.
To my great relief, the godfather was moving weakly, spewing incredible curses. With some help, the dark mage rose to his feet, leaning heavily on the hand that had been set up. The healer, satisfied that no emergency assistance was required, hurried over to Arthur, who was sprawled like a fish dragged ashore.
- Lord Black, how are you? - Brown, who had a long, bleeding scratch on his cheek, approached the slowly recovering nobleman, who was still cursing.
- Disgusting," Sirius tried to growl, but his voice trailed off. - If our ancestors fought with such magic, then thank the ancient gods we don't have to repeat their feats!
- What happened at the perimeter, Mr Brown? - I thought I'd find out who came during the creation of the defence ring.
- A trio of Eaters," the auror said with a smirk, applying healing spells with dexterity. - They were surprisingly agile, so we had to bring in additional forces to put them down without any casualties on our side.
- Was this a targeted reconnaissance? - Sirius jumped up, but immediately grabbed his head with a groan.
- I don't think so," Michael said, "more like some random, ill-timed scouts who didn't expect to find a quarter of the Aurorat's manpower here, so they got a little cocky.
- Did you recognise them? - Godfather raised an eyebrow.
- I'll be presenting a couple of my boys for a reward," the Auror grinned suddenly. - One of the three turned out to be Macnair himself.
- Macnair? - Sirius whistled, "That's good. This way we'll soon leave the snake-eater without a Middle Circle.
- Yes," Brown said thoughtfully. - There aren't that many of them left, just.... Rookwood, Dolohov, and the Lestrange brothers.
- I suppose so. - Sirius headed for the edge of the clearing with my help.
- Don't you dare apparate out of here," he muttered as he walked away. - It could have unpredictable consequences here. Clean this place up before you go... Hellfire, for instance.
- All right," Brown shouted after us, gathering his men.
- Devil," Godfather stopped showing his temper when he got behind the trees and hung heavy on my shoulder. - Get me to the mansion, and Horace will take over there; I trust him more than all those Mungo healers.
Grabbing Sirius' shoulder tightly, I apparated away.
An hour later, when I had already handed my godson over to Alika, who was furious at his condition, and Slughorn, who was shaking his head worriedly, Brown returned to the mansion, smelling fiery.
- The field is clear. - He took a clean towel from the elf I had summoned and wiped his face and hands with the cool, damp cloth with relish. - It took some effort, the dirt left on the clearing was not even good for hellfire. But in the end, my men made it through.
- How's Mr Moody?
- Average," the wizard grimaced. - He was exhausted, so the healer stayed at the Moody mansion, but he had to pay extra for the risk.
We laughed - to the untrained eye, the late Alastor's house did not look like the best or safest place on earth.
- As we dragged Mr Moody down the path," Brown was clearly respectful of the young wizard after the ritual, "some predatory vines nearly ate the unfortunate healer. In the end, he lost his hat because the vines mistook the feather that adorned it for a bird and swallowed the hat whole.
- Lianas don't have mouths," I said, remembering my herbology lessons.
- This one did," laughed Brown, remembering the embarrassment. - She had eaten the leather hat of our cook so smartly that no one had time to blink an eye.
- Yeah," I shuddered, imagining myself in the shoes of the Mungo medic.
- Someday," said the American, dreamily, "I'll retire and have a garden like this.... It's better than most defence spells.
- I guess," I said, "I think the Department of Mysteries would go for a retired head of the Aurorate who's also a war hero.
- Yeah," Brown sniffed at the smells coming from the table in the living room, and caught his fork with a forkful of meat he'd already chopped. - They say they're still breeding new ... plants.
A few days later. White Hill Village.
- Avada Kedavra. - A body in a half-unbuttoned black robe fell softly to the wooden floor. The muggle girl in tattered clothes looked at the people who had burst into the house with wild eyes, which blurred a moment later. My partner threw a powerful Confundus, followed by sleep charms.
- The creatures," hissed Alex Riman, who was covering me today.
- Seco! - shouted another devourer, peering through the window. Alex crouched, letting the blow pass over his head, and I threw a lump of blinding blackness through the window, another of Bleeks' spells. It rumbled, but the new visitor was not the weakest wizard, in time to fend off dozens of sharp needles that flung in all directions from the balloon that exploded on the street.
- Outside! - Riman, enveloped in fire, dashed for the door, and I, letting a ghost-copy of myself, immediately punctured by a green beam of Avada, flew out of the window, shouting the formula for the Thunder Strike.
The powerful sonic pulse, magically contained within the narrow space of a few feet, caused the Eater to stagger backwards, grabbing his ears.
- Sectumsempra," Alex spat out vindictively, looking at the Eater's clothes in disarray and the drops of blood on his robe.
Blood spattered, another body lay on the rapidly reddening snow.
- I'm beginning to hate them," the aristocrat growled, looking around for a new opponent.
- Me too," I mused. We were late in arriving this time, and the Eaters had time to enjoy themselves in the village. On the one hand, that made it easier, because the dark wizards were scattered around the village, and we were catching and killing them one by one. On the other hand, the casualties among the population were enormous.
We ran down the cleaned-up street and into the central square, where the flashes of spells were already blazing as the Alliance aurors and mages fought with the traditionally held centre of the village, the Eaters, who always left a group on duty to protect their marauding comrades.
Riman next to me groaned as a black beam from behind the makeshift barricade shot through his leg. Auror, who was running beside me, obeyed my gesture and dragged him back behind the houses, while I swung my wand to pull a large block of soil from the ground and transfigured it into stone, sending it flying towards the barricade. The technique that had nearly won my opponent in France a duel was useful here, too. The stone shrapnel struck most of the Eaters, knocking out the spells they were creating. One of Voldemort's supporters failed to renew his shields in time, and an invisible blade ripped his head off. The blood-spewing body tumbled over a low wall raised from the ground, collapsing onto the mangled paving stones.
It turned cold. Even through the rage that had enveloped me during the battle, I felt the touch of chilling magic.
- Dementors! - shouted a warning from across the square.
- Sam! - I looked up to find the senior Auror in charge. - I'll meet the Dementors, you finish up here.
- Very well, Lord Potter. - The Auror gently stepped aside, dodging the green beam, and in turn struck, weaving a spell from the necromancers' arsenal - following the example of the late Moody, many were using previously forbidden techniques.... For the Aurorate, however, Greengrass had removed most of the restrictions on magic used in battle with a single decree.
The Aurors, who were advancing from the north side of the square, were moving away, opening the way for the creatures that floated slowly over the ground; few could withstand their presence without amulets, but I was protected by the techniques that Sirius had taught me, having learnt his grandfather's legacy.
Step. The dark aura opened its wings, whipping thin blades against the walls of the houses. The Dementors bickered, releasing invisible tentacles of terror, but the darkness-soaked shell wouldn't let Step inside. The power-filled aura reversed polarity, throwing the nearest Dementor against the wall.
- Flamio Ignis! - A lash of pure fire from the wand of one of the Aurors who followed me blew the disoriented creature's head off. With a grave groan, the dementor crumbled to ash. All of the dementors' magic was focused on me, so the wizards following me didn't feel the horror emanating from the former Azkaban guards.
Step. Two Dementors flew into the air, extending their tentacles to swoop down on me from above, but they ran into the long spikes growing out of their auras, lost mobility, and fell victim to the Aurors as well.
- Hold them down! - One of the aurors shouted, throwing a Misty Net at the dementor.
A few minutes later, the battle with the Dementors was over. Five of the creatures, spell-bound, were suspended in the air, held down by thin bundles of fire magic, and I sank bonelessly to the ground, my strength gone.
- Lord Potter," one of the soot-blackened aurors held out a flask to me. The scalding liquid rolled into my stomach and burst into flames. Leaning on the outstretched arms, I struggled to stand up, feeling a nasty shiver and weakness in my legs.
- That was... hard," I said, catching my breath.
- Muggle spirits and spices," the auror snorted, hooking the flask on his belt.
- What do you need those things for? - I grumbled, nodding toward the immobilised Dementors.
- To Azkaban," several voices chuckled. - Let those Eaters in there suffer.
- Dementors have already stabbed the defenders in the back once," I raised my wand, intending to burn the former prison guards.
- Azkaban was recently rebuilt on the Minister's orders," Sam Thatcher came up and took my wand aside. - The dementors will now be on a subterranean level, isolated from the prisoners and jailers, but their aura will still reach the prisoners, albeit a little weaker.
- I see," I tucked my wand away and concentrated, preparing to apparate.
* * *
Sirius Black, surrounded by half a dozen aurors in purple robes, appeared on the platform near the ferry. Beyond the cold strait, illuminated by the faint rays of the moon, was the silent, icy bulk of the castle, surrounded by high walls. The watchtowers, visible even from here, glowed faintly. Azkaban. A grim, merciless wizarding prison, where even the highest and relatively safe levels used to feel the hopelessness and dreariness of the hundreds of Dementors patrolling the corridors. The lower the cell, the harder it was for the people imprisoned in them. Only the strongest of the Auror wizards, protected by powerful amulets charged with energy from one of the halls in the Department of Mysteries, were allowed down to the lowest level, deep in the rocks. The criminals held there were subjected to the truly terrifying effects of the Dementors' dark magic, but only truly powerful wizards were sent there, and only for crimes that were incredibly cruel. It was much easier to breathe in Azkaban now, though. The rebuilt inner corridors had restricted the few surviving Dementors from travelling, so that they could no longer glide past the prisoners' cells, and only a fraction of their chilling aura reached through the floor or ceiling to the prisoners. The corridors of the prison itself were now guarded only by aurors, with only the occasional shrouded creature flying slowly through them.
- Damn it," the auror shrugged as the cold shadow of a silent dementor passed close behind him, followed by a chasing guard.
- Calm down, Marvin," Sirius gritted his teeth, forcing his own magic to obey in this gloomy place.
Bleck's dark aura thickened with each passing second, surrounding him with an impenetrable wall that protected him even from the effects of Dementors - the wizard had his own memories of the long years he'd spent here as a prisoner, and the Aurors squinted understandingly at their commander's wand clenched hand.
The group descended to the lowest level, where the faint glow of end-of-life magical lights and the cold water dripping from the untreated walls dripped faintly, accumulating into stale puddles on the floor.
- This is it," the jailer, wrapped in a robe of protective Runes, pointed to a stone door that was as thick as a man's body. The surface of the door was covered with Runes of death and decay, woven into some elaborate spell from the arsenal of now-banned necromancy.
- Thank you," Sirius nodded. - Open the door, and you may be free to go.
Even the powerful wizard that Bleek rightfully considered himself to be didn't risk opening doors on his own.
The prison mage applied several nearly identical amulets to small notches in the door, activating the locking system.
- The defences have been lifted, Lord Blek," the mage saluted Blek and left.
- Everyone stay outside," Sirius commanded, extending his hand towards the door. - What we will be discussing with this traitor is not meant for you, sorry.
- Good afternoon, former Grand Wizard," he said with a wry grin as he stepped into the cell.
- Lord Black? - Dumbledore's haggard voice, chained to the wall, was a mixture of fatigue, pain, and incredible tension; even in such a pitiful state, the former Headmaster of Hogwarts was still partially keeping the devastating effects of the Dementors at a distance from his mind.
- Trusted advisor to the Minister, Mr Dumbledore," Sirius swung his hand up from the floor to a rough-looking chair that had been carelessly transfigured from stone. - As of late, I am one of those who hold the supreme power in this country.
- You've forgotten about Voldemort," the wizard grinned, trying to straighten up and make his weary body more comfortable.
- It is you who have forgotten about him, Dumbledore," Sirius replied stiffly, not reacting to the teasing. - This man has been your student at Hogwarts for seven long years, I agree, you are not guilty of that, not everyone would recognise a future Dark Lord in a gifted schoolboy. However, after he returned to Hogwarts, wanting to take up a teaching position, you could already see the seal of evil on his aura. And you, the greatest light wizard of the past, never once during the entire First War had you personally confronted Voldemort. Instead, others fought instead - the Pruetts, the Potters, the Longbottoms, Moody, Meadows, the Weasleys. That's the main thing you're guilty of, in my opinion, and the rest of your transgressions will be dealt with by the new Wizengamot.... when they've regained their numbers.
- At least my hands are clean," Dumbledore's nostrils flared. - Yours are covered in blood up to your elbows.
- Your hands are bloody up to your shoulders if you count how many people have died while you've been sitting idly at Hogwarts, with a good chance of ending the war with a face-to-face fight with Voldemort. Or without Grindewald, were you afraid to fight England's strongest dark wizard? In Germany, during the German aristocrats' attack on Castle Gellert, you were not so squeamish.
- 'But that's not why I came here, Headmaster. - Bleck abruptly cut the conversation short. - 'I'm interested in the reason my godson ended up with the Dursleys, bypassing the Potters' will. That's the first thing. And why wasn't my godson properly trained from infancy, as they do in most pureblood families? And most importantly, why would you want to encourage the Ministry to destroy the legacy of pureblood families?
- I'm afraid I can't answer that question, Mr Black," Dumbledore said calmly.
- In that case, I'm afraid I'll have to use forbidden magic to break your occlumency barrier, Dumbledore," Sirius pulled a goblin-made dagger from its sheath.
- Are you going to torture me? - Dumbledore forced himself to grin.
- 'Worse,' Sirius concentrated and began to carve runic circles around the chained headmaster.
- What kind of ritual is this? - With each successive sign that the former Headmaster managed to discern, his face grew more and more tense.
- The ritual of Arcturus," Sirius snorted ominously, still working. - Dumbledore, I don't care about you or your secrets, but I'm not going to let this country fall apart, even if I have to turn your brains inside out to do it.
The Headmaster's cheeks turned sharply pale.
- You wouldn't dare," he hissed. - This ritual was banned by a joint decision of the Ministers of Magic of all Europe back in....
- I don't give a damn. - Sirius plunged his dagger into the centre of another figure, completing the drawing. - You, Dumbledore, and your lackeys, have failed to understand a basic thing. It's not what spell you use that matters, it's what's going on in your head. Would you like me to give you muscle cramps with a spell that restores nerve conduction? They use it at Mungo's to treat the sick.
Sirius stepped back a little further, scrutinising and inspecting the runic circles drawn and carved into the stones. After adjusting a few marks with the tip of his blade, he nodded in satisfaction.
- The ritual of Arcturus, my dear friend," Sirius began to touch each Runes with his wand, "is forbidden not because it is black, but because only a few pureblood families are capable of performing it... I, in particular, am capable of doing it, because one of my great-grandfathers, Arcturus Black, invented it in the distant past. Only families closely associated with the dark side of magic can use this ritual, Dumbledore. And in our country, in recent decades, we've had a lot of Muggleborns and half-bloods trying to bring Muggle culture and traditions into the magical world... with your, I might add, full help and support... and the support of the late idiot Minister, may he rest in peace. It was favourable to the Minister, because the Muggleborns who were ignorant of magical laws and centuries-old culture became an obedient herd at the elections, but why you did it - you'll tell about it at the trial, when the Wizengamot is restored to its composition.
With each touch of Sirius's wand, the Runes began to glow, some with white fire, some with blue or purple. The rainbow shimmering lights covered the entire wall near where the Headmaster was chained. The hitherto dark room was now illuminated by a veritable maelstrom of colours, raging like the sea in a storm.
Sirius whispered a few short phrases in Latin that the Headmaster couldn't hear, and in time with his words, the riot of colours on the Runes carved into the wall and floor stopped, and the whole complex structure shone with an even golden light.
- This is only the beginning, Mr. Former Headmaster," Sirius said calmly, drawing Runes again, this time on the floor around him. - My great-great-great-great-grandfather was a brilliant man, and magic flowed through his veins.
A complex chain of Runes connected the writing around the Headmaster to the rune circle near where Black was standing.
- Well, Dumbledore," Sirius closed the last row of Runes and sighed with satisfaction. - 'Now you won't even be able to escape to your life-saving death. This spell will not only prevent you from resisting my magic, but also from simply killing yourself so that I won't be able to get answers... However. I can find a necromancer if necessary.
- You are a despicable man, Mr Black," the Headmaster looked bitterly at his former comrade-in-arms.
- No, Headmaster, it was you who betrayed the trust of my friends, and your inaction, backed up by incomprehensible ideas, that killed half the members of the Order of the Phoenix who believed you. - Sirius turned pale with rage.
- So, let's begin," Sirius's face took on a detached expression, and the glare of light on the walls of the chamber became even brighter. - Show me the day you fought Grindewald, Headmaster.... and then the assault on the mansion of McLaren, the Wizengamot's supreme wizard in 1974.
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