Chương 112: Chapter 143 & 144 - Sudden Entrance
"Bellatrix—you are telling me he wants to free Bellatrix?"
"She's the main one, but I believe he wants to free all of them, the Lestrange's."
"Don't might be asking," Tifa glanced over to Aerith, who asked about Bellatrix and to Moody, who corrected her, "Where are you getting this?"
"Well, a few people that we caught, they weren't Death Eaters, just people under Imperius Curse, and they kept asking about the Lestranges, where they were being kept," Moody scoffed, "As if just anyone would know where the Death Eaters are."
"Why the Lestranges? I would have thought that Rockwood would be of more importance than them, right?"
"Well…it's pretty obvious there is something between Bellatrix and Voldemort, if you know what I mean," Aerith mischievously blinked.
"You talked to Bellatrix?" Fury asked.
"Yeah, the way she talked about him, even in front of her husband, if I may point out, it's apparent that there is something more. From her side, to say the least?"
"No, no, no," Fury turned the pages of his pocket-size notebook, "Wait, I know it's somewhere here."
He looked up at the three pairs of eyes, shrugging, "What? There is too much to remember. I am new to this Wizard sh—things. There are too many things to remember. Here it is."
Fury read through the notes, putting the notebook away, "There was a Prophecy, right? He will have the power that Dark Lord knows not. This was Love. The power talked about in this prophecy?"
He kept turning the pages, waiting for an answer, only he got none. He looked up, raising his eyebrows, "What?"
"You are like…." Aerith made a wincing expression, and Moody completed that sentence for her.
"Like an idiot, one of those new Aurors, bumbling idiots."
"Excuse me?" Fury looked up, "Did you call me an idiot?"
"No. I only said you look like the New Aurors," Moody scoffed.
"Who are bumbling idiots, right?"
"Ok, ok, both of you," Aerith clapped her hands together, "I agree with Mr Moody, you do look like you are in the first year of Hogwarts, but I wouldn't call you an idiot."
"Right," Fury pointed at his notebook, "This is important. If I remember correctly, the power that Voldemort won't know of is Love, right? So we can rule out any affair with what's her name…the one that sounds like the name of a Disney movie villain."
"Bellatrix," Tifa thoughtfully bit her lip, "Make sense. If it's not love, and it's focused on Bellatrix but not her alone, then the Lestrange Family has something that makes them more important than other Death Eaters."
"Lucius had his position at the Ministry? Rockwood had information, but they are both not so important," Moody caught onto that line of thinking, narrowing his eyes, "Lestrange, what do they have?"
"Do they have more money than the Malfoys?"
"Money?" Moody raised his eyebrows.
"Yes, money is what makes the world go around," Fury shrugged, "So, do they?" 9811011244
"Actually, it does not," Tifa narrowed her eyes, "It's the money that makes the Wizarding World go around."
"Really?" Fury suspiciously looked at the three, and Aerith nodded, explaining.
"Most Wizards can do the cleaning through magic, so there is no need to pay workers. They can repair old items, so there is no need to buy a new one. House can be built, space inside an item can be expanded," Aerith wanted to keep going, but Fury stopped her.
"They don't need money. Not so much of it."
"Oh, no, money in Wizarding World shows status. The more ancient the Noble Family is, the more powerful it is—is showed by how much they own, including Money and House-Elves."
"But there is no need for it in the War, right?"
"Right," Tifa said, "There are fewer Keys in the Wizarding War. Power—The Strongest Wizards. Information—To control said, Wizards."
"Well, then it's not much different than real war," Fury scoffed, "Still…what are we thinking here?"
"Information…one of the Lestranges knows something Voldemort doesn't want us to know. He knows it's only a matter of time," Tifa muttered, and a bright glow appeared in her deep red eyes, "I'll be back."
She was about to leave, to use Quantum Teleport, even her hand had turned into red cubes when she abruptly stopped, and the red cubes reformed into her hand, "Or rather no."
"What?" Moody frowned, "What's stopping you? You were going to get that playboy, right?"
"He's not a playboy," Tifa curled her lips, defending Cloud, "Yes, I was. I thought it would be good if he read Narcissa's memory since he's the best Legelimist in existence, and it'd take him a second."
"Good plan," Moody nodded and leaned forward, with his face right in front of Tifa, "Why are you not going?"
Tifa backed away, scratching her cheek, "Well, if we aren't wrong…then Bellatrix…possibly is more than Voldemorts…goons. She might have…slept with him. Which is gross in itself…."
"She's also married?" Aerith blinked.
"Yeah, I really don't want Cloud seeing that. I read in a magazine that boys have this unfathomable trust in their first girlfriends that these thoughts don't even cross their minds. I really don't want him to know that these things happen too. If you know what I mean?"
"Right," Fury leaned over the chair, "I understand. On one side is the Wizarding War, and on the other is the boy's innocence. Totally comparable."
"I know, right," Aerith grinned, "Ok. Let's not drag Cloud into this. We have Truth Serum, don't we, Moody?"
"No, that idiot Fudge used it on the Death Eaters before, but he probably didn't ask the right question. We already told Snape to make more, but these new Death Eaters popping up in Muggle areas were more important. You said it's our priority to ensure Muggles don't know any of this."
"Fair enough," Aerith's smile downed a little, "We could ask Dumbledore? This might be exactly what he's searching for."
"You think it's that too, right?" Tifa asked Aerith, who nodded.
"Oh! That's Horserut!"
"Horcrux," Moody corrected him with an irritated look.
"Yeah, the HOR-CRUX," Fury corrected him, "You think Lestranges have those?"
Moody furrowed his brows, "You want me to raid their properties?"
"No. Let's ask Dumbledore to check on her memories, and we'd know, right?" Aerith tilted her head, softly smiling, "If it is what it is, then we'd have everything."
"Then? What do you want to do about Potter? He doesn't need to continue being the temporary Auror, right?"
"Nah, keep him. We can't exactly send him back," Aerith muttered, "His blood protection…he needs it too. Should we send him to Cloud?"
"Yes, that would be a good idea," Tifa nodded, softly smiling, "Who is going to talk to Dumbledore?"
"I'll go," Moody volunteered.
"Then I'll go get Harry and take him to Cloud," Tifa stood up, "Anything else you need, Minister?"
"Nope, not at all."
Tifa stood in front of Cloud's room, slowly opening the door to peek inside. It bothered her that she wasn't worried that she would find him in bed with another girl. She sneaked in, looking over to the bed, and as she thought Hermione was there, and since the blanket was on their chest level, their bare shoulders were visible.
She breathed out, her eyes passed over Hermione, stopping on Cloud, watching him breathe, his chest rise and fall. She seductively bit her lip as this knot rose in her stomach, her mouth felt parched, and she became conscious that her eyes were fixed on his neck.
She exhaled, sitting down beside him, stroking his head, running her fingers through his hair, and he opened his eyes.
"You have to stop doing that," Cloud whispered.
"Yeah, I should, right," Tifa bent down, planted a kiss on his lips, sucking on his lower lip, stroking his jaw, "Oh God, I love you so much."
"You shouldn't," Cloud clasped her head, sucking on her lip, nibbling it, "You really shouldn't."
Tifa lay beside him, above the blanket, stroking his head, "Cloud. When will you stop feeling guilty?"
"Never."
"Really," Tifa brushed her nose against his, "Why? We…really don't mind."
"Yeah, probably," Cloud ran his eyes over her face, "But…you realise that the System is the one magnifying and using it…and that's why you don't mind. What happens when it wears off…when we return to our world?"
Tifa took a sharp breath, left speechless momentarily, and Cloud sat up, "Yeah. There that…isn't there."
"Nothing would change, Cloud."
"What that?"
"I mean it; nothing would change. I promise you."
"No, what's that," Cloud stepped off the bed, striding to the window, "What is that?"
Tifa confusedly looked over and hopped near him, placing her palm on his shoulder, gazing out of the window, "I can't see anything."
"Your Teleportation. That's Quantum Teleportation, isn't it?"
"Yeah?"
"It's like Quantum Superposition, right?"
"Uh…yeah, wait. I know that because of the knowledge from System, and you?"
"Later. Do me a favour. Send your eye to a mile out from here. I feel there is something there."
"I'll go—"
"No. Just your eye."
Tifa gripped his upper arm while her eye turned into numerous red blocks, disappearing, "You are scaring me."
The eye appeared in the sky, drifting in the sky, trying to see what Cloud saw, and yet, there was nothing. The cold night, the other houses, the vacant road, "There is nothing?"
Tifa placed her palm on his cheek to keep him from looking at her, "What did you expect to find?"
Cloud raised his finger, closing his eyes, and his ears perked up, though that seemed to be an involuntary reaction to him spreading his senses. The Space Perception, as Echo called it in his Profile. Though she said she didn't have enough data to confirm that it was Space Perception and not something more, he agreed. This was the thing that allowed him to know the distance between him and the System, to hide his thoughts when needed. Like right now.
He didn't see anything as Tifa said, yet he was sure something was there. His senses were fuzzy so far out, yet he could sense the gap between the system and him when the system shouldn't even be in this Universe.
"Are you forgetting? You are the nearest thing to the system," Angeal appeared in front of him, his hands crossed, looking out the window, "Push them beyond the limit. You know there is something beyond that, don't you?"
'I know there is something, but not what,' Cloud replied when he and Tifa saw the same thing. A crack appeared in the space, and a Death Eater walked out. A moment later, numerous more cracks appeared, and many of the Death Eaters, Dementors and then, beyond all odds, a cut appeared in space, causing the space to open up like a curtain.
"That's…" Tifa couldn't remember a time when she saw magic like that, but the moment she laid eyes on it, she was sure that it wasn't Voldemort.
"Sephiroth."
"How is that possible…I…." Tifa parted her lips, closing them, "They all have a part of your soul in them, right? The only part of them that is alive is you. And Shelke explained that they were like Artificial Intelligence. They couldn't cross a certain parameter."
Cloud dressed himself, "Yeah. Like they will protect me if Jenova tries to take over my body, but they wouldn't try to take control. But they will if I tell them to."
"Ok, I don't get it. There is an army right there, and they are growing in numbers. You better come up with an explanation, fast!"
Cloud squeezed his eyes shut, holding his head, 'think, think, think, think, think, think' "What am I missing!"
"You really haven't figured it out yet?"
Tifa jerked her head back, searching around the room, finding Genesis standing against the wall.
"Who are you!!!"
Cloud snapped open his eyes. He thought only he could see Genesis, but hearing Hermione's panicked voice, he snappily raised his hands, and the blanket transfigured into her clothes, "What are you doing here?"
"Oh, dear Cloud. It's only an illusion," Genesis crossed his arms, watching Cloud with a smile, "So many years, all of my teaching, and you have wasted it. You couldn't figure out such a simple move."
Hermione rushed over to Tifa, slightly panicked, whispering, "That's…Genesis…right?"
"What move?" Tifa nodded at Hermione, directing her question at Genesis, "What did he do?"
"He can't—sorry, we can't come to life because we only exist in memories. He can."
"How? It makes no sense. Should I go with the idea because he is Sephiroth?"
"Oh, come on, girl," Genesis sighed, "I fail to understand why the Creator of the System would choose you three in all his Wisdom. You have no idea how much trouble you have been in or how long."
"Shut up and explain. We don't have the time," Cloud looked out the window at the army of Spiders and, from what he could tell, Werewolves. However, he couldn't be sure if they were until they transformed.
"Well, well, it's simple. Transfiguration."
"No, it doesn't work like that. DNA only changes when you take the Polyjuice potion, which has the person's DNA," Hermione corrected him.
"Yes. But then again, haven't Cloud's and Aerith's Transfiguration always been different? Tifa should be quite familiar with them. Right?"
"Uh," Tifa closed her eyes, and the moments, the transfigurations from their first year flashed into their mind, "Right. Even in First Year, they could perform Polyjuice Level Transfiguration without much effort. I could never do that. What does this have to…shit."
*BOOOOMM*
Tifa snapped open her eyes, only to see the bright light fall on the wall, on Genesis, and a blast resounded behind her.
It was as if a thousand pieces of glass were clattering on the ground and then crashing into each other, screaming like thousand insects as they stitched themselves together. She jerked her head back, trying to understand what she was seeing.
"A barrier. Good choice. At least you learned something," Genesis praised him, watching the barrier patch himself. He narrowed his eyes, "I see. So that's what going on."
He chuckled, his shoulders shook, and his laughter went louder to their annoyance, "What?"
Genesis met with Hermione's snappy look, yet he was laughing, though a little lightly, "Why don't you tell your boyfriend to peek into my mind? See my thought process? Realise what I am talking about?"
Hermione gave Cloud a look, who seemed reluctant to do that, "What?"
"He won't," Genesis raised his eyes, looking behind them to the shield that sustained numerous magical attacks and sustained himself, "The proof is in front of you. You still don't see it."
"Yeah. Thank you so much," Cloud narrowed his eyes, "Basically. Sephiroth managed to come back to life, didn't he?"
"Ah, well. Only because they are bugging me too much, I'll give a clue," Genesis raised his fingers, and the illusion started to dissipate, "He is…your Darkness, Cloud."
Cloud ruffled his head, "Would it—kill them—to give a straight answer?"
"You can…" Tifa tried to suggest seeing what Genesis said, to look into his mind though Cloud cut her off.
"No."
"But," Hermione tried to support Tifa only to get the same reply, "No."
Cloud took a deep breath, "Prepare to fight. Tifa, those houses, get anyone and everyone and teleport them. Then, go to Aerith. Tell her to command her people and create portals to bring them here."
"What about you?"
*Thump*Thump*Thump*
The three of them looked over to the door, which was opened, but a spell and Molly rushed in with Ginny, Ron and Natasha, "Are you seeing this?!"
"Yeah," Cloud took a deep breath, noticing Natasha was hiding behind the Weasley Family, "Dobby. Winky."
"Sir, yes, sir!" Dobby and Winky bot appeared in front of them, shivering, trembling in fear over the massive army outside their door.
"Help Tifa evacuate everyone in Riverdale."
"Sir, forgive me! There are tens of thousands of people. It's not possible!"
Cloud rubbed his shut eyes, trying to think. He moved his hand away, opened his eyes and rushed to the bed, opening the drawer to reveal Tesseract, "Fine. Tifa. Go get Aerith and an army if possible."
"No! I am not leaving you. The Killing Curse will smother you!"
"Yeah," Cloud crushed the outer layer of the Tesseract, revealing the Space Stone inside. Numerous particles appeared on his body, and the bracelet changed shape. A flowing red cape, also acting as the scarf around his neck, had a metal claw in his left hand. His SOLDIER uniform, black pants, sleeveless turtleneck, and dark brown tool belts alongside the pauldron on his left shoulder were with them. He took the Buster Sword from his back, ignoring the warning alarm that the System was playing and put the Space Stone above it. Flowing blue electricity connected with the sword, and the Space Stone was pulled from his fingers and fitted to the Materia Slot.
"I beg to differ."
[Warning! Warning! Such energy will increase the encroachment by Jenova Cells!]
[Warning! Warning!]
Cloud gave Tifa a look, nodding to her, "Go."
Tifa took a deep breath, "Do not die."
Cloud ran his eyes over Hermione, seeing the worried look in her eyes, and Molly, the look in hers. Ron seemed a bit scared, and so was Ginny, and Harry was blank. He would probably start blaming himself, and then there was Natasha, who held on to Yelena, wanting to protect her at all cost. He nodded, "Ok. I'll see you."
*BANG*
Cloud turned his gaze to the barrier, rippling from the punch of the tallest Giant. He cocked his head, meeting with Tifa's and Hermione's gaze again and a cocky, reassuring smile appeared on his lips, "Later."
He disappeared in a flash, leaving behind a blue light, and then the light shined outwards, right outside the barrier. The Giant that roared, that slammed its hands down, got kicked in the head, falling backwards. A few other Giants tried to hold him up, yet they all fell to the ground.
Cloud searched through the battlefield, floating in the air, when another cut appeared in front of him, the largest yet. It would have been appropriate for Giants, but the ones on the other side were people he didn't expect to see.
"Avada Kedavra!"
It wasn't just one, but tens of killing curses came at him, from Voldemort, Bellatrix, Lucius Malfoy, Rockwood, Peter Pettigrew, and a few others he didn't recognise. Probably from the Lestrange Family.
The magic reached him, and beyond all odds, his right hand and sword almost disappeared from the sight of many, moving at such speed that he cut all those spells before they reached him. He disappeared again without giving anyone a chance, appearing in front of Voldemort, who seemed to be expecting him. The Buster Sword collided against the shield that Voldemort propped up.
"How did you get them out?"
Voldemort flicked his hand, causing Cloud to be pushed back. He watched Cloud turn over in the air and land in front of him, "Much like I will get the boy. By walking over your dead body."
"Not happen—"
Cloud's word stopped, defending himself from the punch of a superhuman, Werewolf for sure, and he jumped backwards, leaving a blue trial. It wasn't the only one he had to defend against; there were other magical attacks from numerous Wizards. He deflected all of them and came to a stop. Only a Giant slammed his leg down.
Cloud raised his hand, his palm facing up. He stopped in the middle of the action, waiting until the last moment and teleported out of the way, appearing in the middle of the battlefield. He placed his hands together while they thought he was under the Giant's feet. He filled the telekinetic energy collecting between his palms with the magical energy from the Space Stone.
"Go, now."
He let go of the energy, which spread out, breaking the space around them, forcefully teleporting all of them to the Mirror World. One after the other, the Giants, Werewolves, Spiders, Dementors, Death Eaters, and everyone else, but it targeted Voldemort's Army.
Tifa watched the last, illuminating flash, and there was nothing left, no army, no spells, no voices, silence reigned. She closed her eyes, "We have to hurry."
...........
Thank you for reading.
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The link is in the synopsis of the story.
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