We didn't understand what happened, but things didn't seem to be going well, our faces didn't improve when the auror who was guiding us didn't seem to want to tell us what specifically happened.
We ended up using the Floo to travel to an old semi-abandoned house that was full of people. There were several aurors and research staff, the surprising thing is that not only were they but also Moody and Amelia who when we arrived we could see a look of pity when they saw us.
The atmosphere was bad, something felt wrong, especially when we could hear the heartbroken cry of someone familiar. Just that sound gave Tonks goosebumps, it only took a few steps for us to see the woman who was suffering sitting in an armchair with her hands on her face, screaming.
"MOM?!!!" Tonks yelled as she ran after we both noticed the purple lock of hair.
"N-Nymphadora...!" Andromeda staggered to her feet and fell to the ground.
Tonks was able to grab her mother who was on her knees on the floor, crying, holding on to her daughter's clothes. Tonks, seeing her like this, she didn't know how to react, she was very scared because of the state of her mother, she thought that something had happened to her.
"Mom?! What happened?!" Tonks asked, but her mother couldn't give her any answer between her sobbing and her heartbroken crying.
Some aurors tried to get Andromeda up, but she resisted and she didn't want to let go of her daughter, and Tonks, who still didn't understand what was happening, wanted to separate her mother to ask her. On the other hand, I could feel a hand on my shoulder, it was Amelia looking at me and the two women embracing with pity.
"What happened?" I asked somewhat irritated, seeing Andromeda cry like that was heartbreaking and didn't make me feel at all calm.
"There was an attack... you remember that group that kidnapped the German ambassador, it's the same one" Said Aurelius, the old auror who was about to retire.
"The victim, it was Edward Tonks" Moody said off to the side, but I didn't even reply, I could only widen my eyes as I listened to Tonks scream.
"WHAT?! MY DAD?! Where is he?! How bad is he?!" Asked Tonks somewhat upset knowing that it was his father who was attacked.
"..." Tonks didn't get any response other than her mother's increased crying, which made her more nervous.
"WHERE IS IT?!" She shouted and seeing that they did not respond, but that some looked involuntarily towards a door, she moved towards it.
"D-Don't go...!" Andromeda tried to stop her still crying, but Tonks freed herself from her mother and continued on.
Andromeda lay on the ground crying and I went to hug her, this felt very bad, seeing her like this made me have an idea of what had happened, besides feeling her immense pain. It wasn't long before I heard Tonks screaming from the other room, screams that made Andromeda flinch and hug me even tighter.
The door through which the screams were heard was thrown open as Tonks came out with an expression of extreme rage, red tearful eyes and her wand in hand. She rushed over to Moody yelling.
"WHY DID YOU LET THIS HAPPEN?!!! IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT, YOU FUCKING SON OF A BITCH!" Tonks tried to lunge at Moody in a rage, but she was intercepted by several aurors.
Tonks could almost be seen foaming at the mouth by her looks, she was screaming while spitting, and her words were more insults than anything else. Andromeda seeing her daughter in such a state of madness also fell into depression, since her reaction when they were called to identify the body was disbelief more than anything, but now...
"THIS IS ALL YOUR BLAME AND YOUR FUCKING MINISTRY'S. DO YOU THINK I DON'T KNOW? YOUR AURORS SAY IT WAS AN ATTACK CAUSED BY THE SMUGGERS AGAIN, BUT WE LEARNED BEFORE THEY DON'T ATTACK PEOPLE GRILLING UNLESS THEY'RE PAID VERY WELL, EVERYONE MAY THINK I'M NOT THE SMARTEST BUT I'M SMART ENOUGH TO KNOW WHO DID ALL THIS... FIRST IT WAS US AND NOW THIS, ALL BECAUSE SOME BITCHES DON'T HAVE THE COURAGE TO APPLY THE LAW TO THOSE WHO DESERVE IT..."
"Calm down Tonks!" Said the aurors who were holding her.
"CALM DOWN?! CALM DOWN?!!! FOR SUCKER LIKE YOU WHO DON'T MOVE YOUR ASS TO STOP GARRICK BECAUSE THEIR FUCKING PARENTS ARE IMPORTANT PEOPLE NOW MY DAD IS DEAD WHAT RIGHT DO YOU HAVE TO ASK ME TO CALM DOWN? YOU, YOUR AURORS AND YOUR ROTTEN MINISTRY ARE THE GUILTY THAT THIS HAPPENED..." Tonks no longer had the strength to keep screaming and fell to the ground to cry in the same way as her mother.
None of those present said anything against Tonks, it wouldn't be the first time someone reacted like this. Tonks and Andromeda crawled into each other to end up embracing, one filled with pain and suffering and the other crying with pain and anger.
Amelia approached the Tonks women to try to calm them down because she had already gone through something similar. The only thing she could try was to hug them too to try and help them at this point, she didn't know what else to do, even more so when she knew Tonks was right.
Tonks ended up letting go of her mother and jumped on me, she grabbed my clothes and looked at me from the floor half-kneeling with hate and sadness...
"Do something... anything, think of something... please... I'll give you anything, me or whatever you want, but don't let it be like this...!" Tonks pleaded and ended up losing her strength, falling to the ground again, hugging herself as if looking for warmth. She was desperate, and the only thing she could think of was to ask for help from the person she always managed that he wanted.
Amelia helped the two women back onto the couch as she tried to comfort them, while Moody gave the Aurors orders.
"You can't tell me they just disappeared!" Moody complained.
"They left no trace, sir, they brought the victim here and after torturing they killed him. By the time we received the news, they had been gone for a few hours... it will be very difficult to trace them"
"Useless garbage" Moody grumbled, somewhat annoyed.
Tonks's words were a dagger in his conscience, it was true that everyone present knew how and why this happened, in addition to the political reasons involved. At this moment he could only think of a way to solve this and prevent it from repeating or worsening, since he could not recover what was already lost.
"Keep investigating, if I don't get the slightest clue, someone will have to leave" He shouted and then addressed the group of women "We must take them to another place, that is safer and they have to avoid doing something stupid, we will take care of it"
"Something like what you guys should have done a long time ago!" Tonks yelled at Moody as she hugged her mother.
"It's that kind of thought that you have to avoid more at this moment, I know you're angry, but if you go out now to do something crazy you will only risk your life or that of others" Moody tried to explain.
"You should listen to him, don't put yourself in more danger" Amelia remembered, stroking the back of the disconsolate Andromeda.
"You and Tenebrius are the targets, but the others can also be involved because of what..." Moody was saying.
"Where is Tenebrius?" Amelia asked after looking for the image of the young man, since it seemed strange to her that he was not by the side of both women to comfort them as she supposed he would.
"WHAT?!" Moody exclaimed "Where is he?! Someone who has seen him say something!" He said worriedly.
But no one answered, they didn't know when, but at some point, they all lost sight of him, except for one person who raised a trembling hand.
"You! What did you see?"
"I-I…I thought I saw him use the fireplace…" he said somewhat hesitantly, he was one of the rookies who hadn't been on the force long.
"And why didn't you say anything?!" Moody yelled at him furiously.
"...H-He started to look scary..." He stammered, he was simply a new investigator.
"You idiot! Go find him!" Moody ordered the aurors "If only for work he can be so brutal now that he wants revenge, we don't know what he can do"
The three women were also a little worried, they didn't realize when it was, but Tenebrius was gone and they were a little nervous. They didn't know that at one point Red, like Tenebrius, had received notice of two new abilities and at that moment he was on his way.
...
Walking through the streets of Diagon Alley with an erratic gaze, the [Hunter Essence] made Tenebrius feel changing directions, but looking for the middle point they were heading to a specific place. It reached the point where he began to approach Knockturn Alley, already dressed in Tenebrius's personal outfit, and, along with the skill [music], a song began to come out of his mouth, with his face showing a kind of insane smile.
*My mind is burning like fire
And my evil heart stands still
All the time they put me in a wheelchair
And their meds gave me the thrill...*
When his voice came out, despite being a slight murmur, it ended up being heard all over the place. People both inside and outside the buildings seemed to hear her at the same volume no matter where they were, which made them somewhat anxious.
People felt more fear when they saw him, not only because of his fame as a criminal hunter, but also because his body began to grow. A kind of reddish smoke began to rise from his body, rising like lines in the air, and the more it passed, the more it changed.
Tenebrius's scrawny body which used to be among the worst began to gain mass alarmingly, his height had increased, torso, arms and legs had swollen due to the growing muscles. At this point his height went from 170-180 to 200-210, with a body full of muscles to the point that he became a terrifying person, more so if we take into account the bloodthirsty look.
Although with the change of Tenebrius something happened in other places as well, all the Reds, including the original, began to drift off to sleep.
*Hold on
What's going on?
Am I alive or dead, what's reality?
Come on
What's right or wrong?
Am I stumbling through the streets
Or is it just a stupid dream?
I'm so lost no, I'm not fine
I am close to borderline
Because I'm sick, yeah
They call me Mr. Madman
I was out for not long
Three lusty women walked me home
When they left
They called me Mr. Madman...*
His footsteps changed at one point, as if he was no longer wandering, heading at high speed to a particular building. In that 'abandoned' building, there were several people discussing.
"When do we receive the rest of the payment? We should have already left for Spain 20 minutes ago" Said a young man somewhat anxiously, walking from side to side.
"Calm down Dewie, we can't leave yet, you know very well that if we leave it is possible that we will attract unwanted attention from the Spanish ministry... remember the last time" Said an old man.
"Yes, besides, I don't think we should leave without the rest of the payment, I won't let an Englishman want to screw us. If he wants to cheat us, I assure you that I will make him look worse than that fat man" Said a black man who received the assent of the rest of his colleagues
"I know, I know, it's just that something doesn't give me a good feeling since we arrived at this warehouse, I feel that something bad is going to happen..."
"Perhaps just in case, if we should move, just for safety. It is better to trust the inst..." The old man was speaking when suddenly everyone in the place heard a voice... a song... "What Is that it? Did someone break in? Jiang, go see" The old man yelled at one of the hooded men.
The man was about to go to investigate when one of the thinnest walls in the place seemed to explode. When the hooded group saw him, as in his usual attitude, they cast spells without hesitation, but what they saw was how the body of the boy who felt anxious at first was destroyed by his attacks.
"Ceasefire, friendly fire" The old man yelled.
After the wizards got into a circular formation to avoid ambushes, the whole place fell silent, only revealing a large hole in the wall and the remains of their dead partner.
"What happened?" someone asked.
"...? Quickly, the key to the door, they attack us!" The old man shouted after hearing footsteps nearby and that song that kept playing in his mind.
In that, a hooded man wanted to take something out of his bag, but he realized that something grabbed him by the neck and lifted him up, and then smashed him against the ground so hard that his skull was broken, as well as other bones.
At this moment, everyone saw what the figure of the attacker looked like. An incredibly tall and muscular man who exuded a kind of red smoke, with a lunatic gaze, non-proportional irises, in which behind him a kind of spectral image of a being seemed to be a very robust humanoid covered in black and red armor.
"Fire" The old man ordered when he saw how this being destroyed his companion's bag where they had the key to the door.
All the mages attacked but they couldn't hit the figure, it was spinning and moving in place as if dancing and despite its size, it was able to dodge almost every attack.
*My head is constantly spinning
And my world is going down
All alone I'm staring through the window
Cause the white men took my crown...*
As Tenebrius managed to get close to one of the wizards, the wand held in one hand cast a spell, but the other hand also struck a heavy blow. The mage who tried to defend himself ended up being sent flying to the ground by the blow to his chin, which had broken his jaw and caused him to choke on his own blood.
Although Tenebrius is physically the weakest of the clones, at this time he had more strength than even the original body. His melee didn't end, he moved on to his next targets, even with the large wounds his body received from the spells that did hit him.
Tenebrius was like a wild beast, lashing out and dodging the deadly spells thrown at him. Even though some of the mages tried to use apparition to get out of the room after seeing the death of their companions, Tenebrius's spells seemed to target them just as they were about to do so, and while some were able to do so, others were splinching by the interruption.
*I'm so lost no, I'm not fine
I am close to borderline
Because I'm sick, yeah
They call me Mr. Madman
Hey you listen I can sing
Those evil white men got me in
When they left here
They called me Mr. Madman...*
At this point, Tenebrius's wand had snapped in two, but one part was held in his hand, while the other floated in a field of light around the first, still making it possible for him to cast spells.
After a while, the place was left alone with Tenebrius and a group of corpses that showed that most of them died from physical damage, but this did not stop the massacre. Tenebrius, as if he smelled the victims, ran like a beast from the warehouse towards some particular places.
*I am done with my tricks
Cause yeah the straitjacket fits
When I'm out
You will get who's Mr. Madman
I will take my last pill
Getting ready for the thrill
When I'm out
You will know who's Mr. Madman...*
The escaped mages ended up in different places, not far away due to the rush, but they didn't calm down when they realized that they were still listening to that song. A few had a chance to try to escape, but it didn't last long, as they were chased and attacked by the enemy that seemed to disappear by the minute. One by one they were being killed even in the middle of the street, with many people watching.
The Aurors who were already searching for Tenebrius had a very difficult time. After they saw the massacre in the warehouse they chased after him, but his movements were fast, his behavior erratic and at times they couldn't detect him, causing them to lose sight of him several times.
One of the cloaked wizards was able to use a fireplace inside Knockturn Alley that he used to get to a house in French territory. It was an 'illegal chimney', well not exactly, but it was intentionally not recorded in the ministry documents.
The wizard took to the streets of the French wizarding world, quickly changing his appearance, but he did not know that it was no use. When Tenebrius chased after him, three of his abilities used his power at the same time and as he ran towards the fireplace, a blaze of color erupted, swallowing him and sending France as well.
The wizard sighed, hoping he could go somewhere else quickly and see if any of his other companions managed to escape, but before he could think too much, his head was pushed to the ground with great force.
Once Tenebrius was done with this goal, he once again went into a random fireplace causing the same phenomenon again, and returned to England.
...
In the house where Tonks and Andromeda still resided everything was silent, since Tenebrius left they were not allowed to leave and were watched by a couple of Aurors. They were somewhat impatient, partly because her partner/son-in-law had disappeared and, on the other hand, because the body of her father/husband was in the other room.
It was at some point that they saw how a green flame came out of the chimney and from there a shaky Tenebrius entered the room. The women were surprised and wanted to go to him, who seemed to move his lips trying to say something, but before they got there they saw him fall to the ground unconscious.
They tried to help him, but not long after the Aurors arrived to arrest the unconscious Tenebrius. The women tried to fight for him not to be taken away, but it was useless, even with fury they could only see them, helpless.
Tenebrius was taken to a cell in Azkaban while the events were processed, as well as by the magical communities, the stories of the Ministry hunter that were already being forgotten resurfaced only now they were slightly different. Now Tenebrius was called by names like 'the hunter', 'executioner', 'the beast' and 'Mr. Madman'.