The last of the dried, dead autumn leaves skid down winding roads lingering at an old, crumbling apartment. The night air is crisp and chilly on the empty streets. In this abandoned corner, one by one hooded shadowed figures gathered, slipping into an old flat.
Inside the safe house, Five Aurors and an Unspeakable gather. After the attack on Hallow's Eve at the Ministry of Magic, they had not been able to safely gather. The allies and spies of the Dark Lord watched the Auror Corps for a sign of guilt. None had been found neither among the Aurors or the members of the Ministry of Magic. Nevertheless, the Death Eaters are zealous in their endeavor.
Gathered inside a dusty, rickety, bare flat the grizzled Scottish, Auror Alastor Moody subtly pulls back the moth-eaten curtain. He peers into the dark for signs of being followed but finds none. Satisfied, he briefly turns away and says, "Are you all certain that you were not followed?"
"We did the standard three jumps to throw off any pursuers," Sara Vinovich rolled her eyes. "Come now, there is no need for such paranoia Moody. All those present are an experienced Auror including a trained Unspeakable."
"We've been under far too many watchful gazes as of late, Vinovich," Alastor Moody reminded his old friend. "All it takes is a single slip for anyone of those treacherous spies to catch on."
"Very well, we will do it your way, Moody," Sara Vinovich sighed gesturing to everyone to take a position. Percius Clements takes a window as do the Prewett brothers, while Sara Vinovich guards the door entrance.
The only exception is Alphard Black, who rests in the only available furniture in the flat. A moth-eaten armchair with visible mental springs and aged stuffing fallen out in clumps onto the floor. The Unspeakable still looks sickly and gaunt from his illness. However, he looks less like a corpse and more among the living since the attack on Hallow's Eve.
With the attention of everyone, Alastor curtly nods his head at them to commence. "I know I have been vague and have not had an opportunity to fully explain myself. But I trust every one of you, you all came to my aid without any questions. And for that I am grateful. Now speak and I shall answer what I can. "
"In that case, I shall go first," Alphard Black rasped. His throat is irritated from the coolness of the air. "Who is it exactly that we are fighting, the Dark Lord?"
"The Dark Lord is a dark wizard. A blood purist believing in the supremacy of purebloods over the muggleborn. Moreover, in their right to rule over muggles and all," Alastor huffed in dislike.
"Pureblood ideology is not dangerous in itself, Moody," Alphard knowingly reflected. "However, this Dark Lord must hold sufficient power and powers of persuasion to convince even those in politics to risk their careers for his sanguinary cause. This alone makes him dangerous and warrants caution." Sara Vinovich nods her head in agreement with the accurate assessment as does Percius Clements, while Fabian & Gideon Prewett remain quiet and listen.
"The Dark Lord is the darkest of wizards and an avid purist," Alastor Moody acknowledged. "Yet he is a half-blood himself." There is a low astonished murmur throughout the room at the revelation.
"His name is Tom Marvolo Riddle, a Slytherin during his time at Hogwarts," Alastor gruffly recounted. "More troubling, his mother, Merope Gaunt, a pureblood witch used a love potion on a muggle, Tom Riddle Sr. to force him to fall in love with her. The romance ended in tragedy inevitably foolishly believing the muggle loved her, Merope Gaunt desisted in the love potion. Upon awakening utterly horrified, the muggle abandoned her."
"Pregnant and utterly heartbroken, Merope Gaunt lost the ability to control her magic, "Alastor said with a measure of pity in his voice. "Pregnant and unable to use her magic, Merope Gaunt pawned every last bit of article she had to barely scrounge enough to eat. And on a cold winter's night on the last day of the year in 1926, Merope Gaunt arrived at the muggle orphanage. There she gave birth to a son named, Tom Marvolo Riddle. Weak after birth and after months of living on the street, Merope Gaunt passed away leaving her newborn son an orphan," Alastor quietly ended his tale.
"An orphan?" Sara frowned. "A half-blood at that," she slowly shook her head. "It would not have been an easy time for him." Indeed, an orphaned magical child born under duress and tragic circumstances could easily grow to be dark having no one to properly guide him.
Returning to the subject at hand, Alastor says, "Riddle was afforded a chance and a choice as much as any of us despite the tragic circumstances of his birth and childhood." He firmly gazed around the room reminding them to feel no pity for the Dark Lord for he surely would not.
"The Dark Lord calls his followers the dark army or better yet, Death Eaters," Alastor raised his wand in the air. Bright, glowing letters form to spell a single name in the air, Lord Voldemort.
Before any one of them can read the name out loud, Alastor hastily says, "Do not so much as speak a syllable of it! There is a dark curse tied to his name permitting him to a certain degree to sense those that speak aloud his name. He shall only be referred to by his muggle name, Tom Marvolo Riddle among us as a precaution."
"A good habit to form," Percius Clements murmured in approval, before furrowing his brow in thought. "It is uncommon for such a curse to be tied to a name, but it is not unheard for dark wizards in ages past to cast a similar spell. It is an excellent method to arouse fear in his enemies and the public. Although, I am more curious now. Just how did such information come into your possession, Moody? Is there a repentant traitor among his Death Eaters?"
"For the time being, I cannot reveal the identity of my informant," Alastor carefully replied. "Suffice to say, I ask that ye be patient until all can be revealed."
Fabian Prewett, who had been gazing out of the window looks away. "Have you told them about the list, Moody?"
Sara's sharp eyes narrow into needlepoints. "What list, Moody?" She inquired with a dangerous note in her voice.
Alastor carefully removes a list from his innermost pocket. "I ask that you all carefully memorize the names on the list as there will be no second chances. We cannot afford for this list to fall into the wrong hands," he gazes around in emphasis before handing over the list to Alphard.
"Every single name on the list has either been personally confirmed by me or the Prewett brothers as Death Eaters. However, do not be overconfident and place your full trust in the listed names below. These are only the Death Eaters known to us. I am certain there are far more many," Alastor sternly reminded.
"We must watch and keep an eye on everyone of them," Alastor solemnly paused. "And if need be, kill them. I cannot emphasize this enough, we are not dealing with simple-minded dark wizards, but a united army of dark wizards whose sole purpose and intent is to destroy the Ministry of Magic and create a new era where purebloods reign supreme."
"For now, we trust no one not even friends and family," Alastor sternly ordered. "We know the Ministry of Magic has already been infiltrated nor would I put it past them to use an Unforgiveable Curse."
A loud cry of anger and sock erupts from the Auror Sara Vinovich at recognizing more than a few names on the list. Several of them are part of the upper echelons of the Ministry of Magic. "We couldn't have been infiltrated this badly without anyone noticing, could we?"
"The Ministry of Magic is not exactly known for its lack of corruption," Alphard drily answered. "Neither the possibility of memories being altered can be excluded nor as previously suggested the use of the Imperius Curse."
Reflecting with some sadness on his face, Alphard continues, "I would have never suspected Augustus Rockwood. He was a good man and a friend." His voice trailed off unable to speak further about the Unspeakable, he had once considered a friend.
Not one to be daunted by sensitive topics, Gideon asks, "Since we are on the topic of Rockwood has Rockwood's disappearance been noted or reported?"
"Not yet as Rockwood is supposed to be on vacation, but I'm sure it is only a matter of time before Aurors are sent to investigate," Alphard bluntly replied.
"We took care of the scene, so we should be safe," Percius pensively concluded. "There is also the past time frame to consider. If there were any traces left behind in the Atrium, they have long been erased by those coming and going to the Ministry of Magic.
"That being how do we know the Death Eaters will not try again?" Fabian interjected.
"An excellent question," Alastor acknowledged with a small proud nod. "We cannot exclude the possibility, the loyalty of the Death Eaters. Yet that itself poses a problem for Lady Luck was on our side catching the Death Eaters unaware. However, they will be on their guard from now on. With that in mind, I cannot stress the importance of continued surveillance and the gathering of information."
"What if we set a bait that the Death Eaters cannot possibly ignore?" Percius coldly said destroying the list in his hand in charged ashes, before vanishing even the dust away.
Sensing all eyes on him, Pericus glances up with a dark expression. "If attention is what the Death Eaters desire, then why not let permit them an opportunity to directly attack the Minister of Magic?
"Whatever do you mean, Clements?" Gideon asked with mild alarm.
"Well as we can safely assume that the Ministry of Magic has already been infiltrated, then let us use that to our advantage. We can allow for a few well-known gossipers to open their mouths with the specific dates and time of the Minister of Magic's schedule," Percius suggested.
"In this manner, we control for which specific functions the information is released for. We then simply wait for the fish to take the bait. It doesn't matter how wary the Death Eaters may be as long as we keep releasing said function information, eventually, a reckless Death Eater will be willing to try it out. And that is when we not only attack but have the rest of the Ministry of Magic Auror's attack as well," Percius said with a wicked grin.
Percius stops for a breath and continues, "Very quickly it will become known that there was a conspired attack against the current Minister of Magic, Eugena Jenkins, who will have no choice but to set the baying dogs loose. We will be effectively tying their hands that much more and possibly even using the regular branches to do our job for us. Because with everyone looking for the treacherous criminals, good leads are bound to pop up."
"No that won't work," Alphard immediately disregarded the notion. "An excellent suggestion, Percius, but we mustn't forget that the Minister of Magic has no shortage of enemies. And even if said proposal would work that would only serve to force those sitting on the sidelines to choose a side that much sooner. We've seen this done before with Grindelwald." The room is stark silent understanding exactly what those words mean.
"It is a good idea, but one that carries too much of a risk, Percius," Sara regretfully shook her head in disagreement.
Percius nods his head in understanding, before Alastor says, "We shall meet again in December as promised. I only ask that we have no further contact or interactions beyond what is normal at the office. I do not want any sort of secretive contact unless it is urgent or viable information, is that understood?"
"Yes, Moody," everyone chorused with a hint of exasperation.
"Use the fireplace and let us scatter forth," Alastor instructed, before causing the fireplace to burst into flame.
One by one they each vanish into an emerald fire. The safe house becomes empty and cold as the flames go out on their own. Yet embers linger in the fireplace an omen of the embers of war. Mere embers now but with the right kindling have the power to become a raging fire.