Donald Carrick was everything she despised in an auror, it was always the easiest option that was taken and corners cut to suit the junior arseholes needs. Today was a prime example; for a few days now they had been transferring death eaters from Azkaban to the ministry so they could stand trial and the regulations clearly stated no more than two prisoners at a time were permitted in the boat. Don' had a hot date for tonight and didn't want to spend the extra time it would take for two trips to transport the last three death eaters so was cutting corners again, the fact that all three death eaters had the last name Lestrange just compounded the error.
Every auror in the department, apart from the bold Don' knew as soon as Shacklebolt took over the department Carrick would probably find himself behind a desk at best, he thought he had a shot at the department head job. She could see the flawed logic behind his assumption; if his useless arsehole of an uncle could make minister of magic then there was hope for him, but only in his tiny mind!
Connie wanted to stun Rabastan, Rudolphus and Bellatrix for the entire journey but Carrick had laughed at her, pointing out that they had been in Azkaban for over a decade and were restrained using magic inhibiting manacles. There were four aurors wearing body armour and the boatman against three wasted death eaters, she had a really bad feeling about this and it would be no consolation if she were proven right.
The three had sat unmoving and they were an hour into the ninety minutes the crossing required when Rabastan started coughing before moving to the side of the small boat to throw up, Carrick and Jones were laughing but Connie's hand immediately starting reaching for her wand. Unfortunately she was watching the wrong Lestrange as Rudolphus pounced on her and the reason for only two death eaters to a boat was abundantly clear, in the small, tight confines of the boat she didn't have time to draw her wand. They were packed so tight and all struggling for their lives now she could have hit anyone with a spell fired.
Rudolphus was a dirty fighter but then Connie didn't know any other way to do battle having been trained by a master of the technique, in their struggles her thumb found the death eater's left eye and pushed right through it. His screams of pain were cut short by her elbow connecting violently with his jaw and he collapsed unconscious while Connie finally freed her wand.
Rabastan had felled Jones and was now overpowering Carrick when Connie clipped him with a stunner, she heard the splash before even having the time to turn around and no sooner did she complete the manoeuvre than she was left wishing she hadn't.
The forth member of the team was young John Phillips, a first year auror who was so excited to get his dragon hide vest especially since it was an open secret where the gold for the vests had come from. He now lay there with his life blood spilled all over his brand new vest which was no protection from a psycho bitch like Bellatrix, she had ripped out the poor lads throat with her teeth! A quick examination confirmed that he was dead and his wand as well as the keys to the manacles were missing, the bitch was not only free but also armed.
She stood and stunned the Lestrange brothers again before punching Carrick, landing him on his arse. "What the hell are you playing at?" Connie demanded.
"I was going to summon the bitch, why did you stop me?"
Connie pointed to Phillips, "she did that without magic, she now has a wand and the key to those manacles you put so much faith in and Donald friggin Carrick wants to summon her into our boat! Why don't you summon a dozen sharks while you're at it, we would probably stand a better chance against them."
Donald was turning green as the enormity of his screw-up began to penetrate his befuddled mind, he'd lost a member of his team, Bellatrix Lestrange had escaped with a wand and for the life of him he couldn't think of who else to blame for this fiasco.
Connie saw the boatman's head appear at the tiny window in the miniscule wheelhouse, "get us out of here as fast as you can." This was one order the boatman was more than happy to comply with as Connie checked on Jones, before stunning the brothers again just to make sure there would be no more surprises.
Connie knew what Amelia and Shack's reaction would be and Donald would count himself lucky if he didn't find his new accommodation was a cell, being charged with criminal negligence. This thought gave her no comfort, the sheet covered body of John Phillips put paid to that, she stunned both Lestrange brothers once more wishing she had followed her instincts in the first place.
Bellatrix watched the tiny boat pick up speed and head away; she was stationary about twenty feet deep and wearing a bubblehead charm. She'd been remarkably calm whilst trying to remove those chains, perhaps it was the knowledge that Azkaban wasn't going to claim her as she'd gladly drown rather than return to that hellhole.
When she got the manacles off the bubblehead charm allowed her to stay below the boat, and with the application of a heating charm she was feeling better than she had in well over a decade.
As the boat disappeared her euphoria suddenly acquired an extra dimension, she could feel her master through her mark. The wards of the prison and those manacles had prevented her feeling him sooner, he was very weak but Bella could always sense her master's presence. Her husband and brother-in-law were quickly forgotten about as she imagined herself once more at the Dark Lord's feet; yes her master would need his most dedicated and loyal follower with Bellatrix Lestrange vowing never to fail him again. She was going to be reunited with her master and woe betides anyone who got in her way.
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