Still a little shaken by what had just happened, he stiffly turned around and sat down at the dining table. From there, he could still look inside the kitchen. He could still look at Apolline's rear shaking around as she worked.
I gotta be the luckiest man in the world. Fleur, Apolline, Gabrielle, and Amelia, there's no reason left to look elsewhere anymore. Ron thought, realizing that he might have found his end point after all. An end to his adventure.
"There you go." Apolline soon came over and placed a plate full of French delight on the table—Omelette aux Fines Herbes, Pain Perdu à la Vanille, Café au Lait, and Croissant.
This isn't bad at all. Ron looked at the plate, and then back at the woman who made it. Not at all.
So, he dug in instantly. It was as delicious as he expected it to be. How could a pureblood woman be so different from British pureblood witches? Apolline was sweet as honey and smooth as silk inside out.
"Apolline, you need to take Fleur and Anne and get out of the country—now," Ron said, his voice serious. "Something big is going to happen today, and it's going to be violent. They might come after you to get at me. Just promise me you won't fight. I'm the one who's good at that. Your priority is to keep yourself and your family safe."
Apolline understood the seriousness and didn't argue. "You are family too."
"I know, and that's exactly why I'm going to fight with everything I've got today. Once this is all behind us, I want to marry Fleur and give Anne my name officially."
"Don't worry, I will take Fleur and Anne back to France right away."
Ron finished his breakfast just then and stood up. He grabbed his long coat and wore it. He still had to return to his muggle house to arm himself with all the potions, projectiles, and gifts he had prepared.
"Thank you for understanding."
With that, he gave her a warm hug and then walked out of the large mansion. After leaving the grounds, he looked behind one last time and found Fleur standing at the window, waving at him. In her arms was Anne, who she showcased.
See you soon.
He waved back and left.
####
Hogwarts,
On the 7th floor, Harry gathered with the nine others who had been chosen to participate in the battle—Him, Hermione, Fred, George, Padma, Parvati, Luna, Neville, Ginny, and Seamus. All of them had been given the choice to decline and stay back.
But all of them chose to join and fight. For the past year, they had trained well with Ron and Harry. They all felt nervous, but also brave. It didn't matter if they were from Gryffindor Ravenclaw, or Hufflepuff—that day, they were all brave.
"Last chance—"
"Just shut it, Harry. We're going." Seamus interrupted before Harry could warn them again. "We all had plenty of time to think last night."
Harry gratefully nodded and looked at Hermione. It was noticeable to all that she wasn't as approachable or calm as before. There were emotions that none wanted to face.
"Where is Ron?" Luna inquired. "Isn't he coming?"
"He went early," Harry answered and took out the portkey. "Hands on the Portkey."
With that, all of them came forward in a circle and put their hands on the small Portkey. They held each other's hands tight at the same time.
"Thank you, everyone," Harry muttered.
####
Ron armed himself to the teeth and left his muggle hideout. He already knew about the countless ways to enter the Ministry of Magic. But, Amelia had told him the best one. It was a bit annoying, but it was known by so few that almost nobody used it.
Sadly, he had to go to the sewers first. It was filthy, and he had to use a lot of spells to keep himself clean. But eventually, he found the thing Amelia had told him about. A lone, brass pipe that was carved with runic symbols.
"Ugh…" Sadly, for the whole thing to work, he had to touch the pipe. It was covered in filth. "Electrium Con—"
As soon as he said the magical words, which were the translation of the runes, he vanished from the spot. He could feel everything—moving fast as if lightning itself. Yet, being squeezed through a tight space that could barely hold him. He felt it all, being squishy and almost jelly.
Woosh!
And just like that, he found himself standing somewhere dark, his hand still holding the pipe, but it wasn't the same sewer.
Merlin's tits, I almost got squeezed to death. No wonder nobody uses it anymore.
Finally, he removed his hand and looked around. It was pitch black there, so he raised his wand and made some light. Left and right, he realized he was in a tunnel made of dark stone. There were only two ways, back and forth.
This is under the Ministry?
He had no clue which direction to go, so he picked one at random and started running as fast as he could. The tunnel didn't seem like a sewer since it was completely dry and odorless. Nor did he find any doors into it.
Without any clue, he just ran and ran until he started to feel out of breath. But he didn't stop and continued the jog, keeping the wand lighting up his way.
How long is this damn tunnel?
Panting like a dying horse, he slowed down and just walked.
That was when he noticed it.
"No!"
The same old brass pipe coming out of the wall.
"I've been running in a circle!"
He panicked a bit and touched the pipe. He made sure it was the same one, and it was. It had the same runic text on it.
Slowly, Ron felt his heart sink. A few words that Amelia had often spoken to him reverberated in his mind. 'One of us must live', 'You must stay safe', or 'You can't die.'
"No, no, no!" He grabbed the pipe and said the same words that had brought him there. "Electrium Con—"
Nothing happened.
Bam!
He punched the dark wall in rage.
"Why! Fuck!" He realized this was a trap set up by Amelia to hold him in safety. Away from the battle. "I have to be there. I must… Only I can kill that bastard!"
He regretted not telling Amelia about his increased luck. He regretted not tagging along with Harry.
"Dammit! I've wasted so much time here! Bombarda!"
He tried to blast the walls of the round tunnel in the hopes of finding an exit.
"Bombarda!"
The explosions rang with a blinding light.
"Fuck!"
But nothing happened to the cave.
"No, if I'm here, then it has to be because of my luck!" He found reason in his situation. "There must be a way out."
####
The battle had already begun in the Hall of Prophecies. It was a trap from the very beginning, and the Ministry waited for Voldemort and his stooges to arrive. Of course, with the help of many spies who were inside the Ministry for years.
Voldemort himself had arrived with whatever was left of his Death Eater army. He entered the Department of Mysteries without any hurdle and even found the orb.
Boom!
But it exploded right on his face. Laced with acid and intense fire, it burned and ruined Voldemort's face. He writhed in rage and pain, and roared at the Ministry, destroying the entire room and all the prophecies.
Boom!
Boom!
Sadly for him, Ron and Sirius had expected that. All the other prophecies were laced with acid, poison, and fiery explosives as well. Everything went off as soon as Voldemort tried to rage. The large hall turned into a hellish inferno.
"Aaaaaaah!"
A few Death Eaters died right there in that trap. A few lucky ones were quick to escape. The Dark Lord's own body got ruined and burned. No longer a small baby, but a tall, seven-foot man instead. How Voldemort created that body was a mystery.
But it was now ruined.
"Voldemort, surrender yourself!"
"You dare ask that, Dumbledore!" Voldemort bellowed and attacked right away. "Avada Kedavra!"
The battle began immediately. Dumbledore engaged Voldemort, and the rest of the Ministry Aurors, Order of the Phoenix, the Minister, and Dumbledore's Army engaged with the Death Eaters. There were at least fifty Death Eaters, and most of them fought with intent to kill.
The sparks flew around everywhere. Bodies fell, and some got torn apart. Blood splattered the floor. The battle moved on its own and before anyone realized it, they had entered a huge room —echoing, dimly lit, and rectangular. At the center was a raised stone dais in a sunken, great stone pit some twenty feet deep, with benches running all around the room and descending in steep steps like an amphitheater.
Death Chamber, as the people of the Ministry called it. Everyone tried to stay as far away from the tall, stone pointed archway that looked so ancient. The archway was hung with the Veil; which appeared as a tattered black curtain, gently fluttering and swaying very slightly. It terrified those who knew touching it meant death.
Woosh!
The Death Eaters weren't as burdened, however. It was bloody, and it was intense.
"Moody! Who are those three masked men?!" Amelia asked the man as she panted and bled from her arm. "They're stronger than the best of the wizards I know."
Moody's magical eye whirled as he paced, his real one narrowed in suspicion. "I can't say for sure," he growled, "but they're identical in every bloody way. Like they've been… cloned."
Boom!
"Professor!" Moody looked towards the sound of the explosion. His heart sank as he saw Voldemort walk around a body on the floor with two more masked men. At that moment he realized something. The masked men had the exact same proportions as Voldemort.
"Professor!" Harry shouted, stopping to look. He bled from his face and many other places. All his other friends were the same. "No!"
"Harry! Be careful!"
Woosh!
Harry got hit by a Death Eater and fell to the ground.
The situation turned for the worse in an instant. Somehow, Dumbledore had been beaten. The five masked men had somehow taken full control of the battlefield and overpowered everyone.
"That's impossible! Dumbledore can't be defeated like that!" Sirius roared and continued to fight around. "Where's the damn Weasley boy?!"
"He's not coming!" Amelia replied sternly. "He can't!"
"W-What did you do?" Sirius glared at her. "This was all his plan! Without him, we can't win!"
"He must live," Amelia replied.
"And now we all might die! Those five are Voldemort's clones!" Moody deduced it right away. "Those are all as strong as Voldemort."
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