"I actually know a very good lawyer if you'd like to pursue a case against Miss Skeeter," Albus told Bellatrix. "For my part, I certainly shall. She wrote that book on me over twenty years ago, but I think my being dead for that long can excuse my not having done so earlier." The twinkle in his blue eyes as he laughed off his fake death nearly made him look a little younger...nearly but not quite. "Now that I am in the public eye again, I have a few things to attend to, and this is one of them," the old Headmaster concluded.
"I would appreciate the name of your lawyer, and thank you," Bellatrix said. She would most likely sue Skeeter, but eventually she was going to kill the woman and make it look like she did it to herself for all the vicious things she'd written over the years. Yes indeed, before very long Miss Skeeter would be quite unable to live with herself.
"Albus is here today to work on adding extra wards to the Ministry at Gellert's request," Kereston said. "I'd like you three to watch what he's doing and help. If you're able to learn anything to use for Azkaban, that'd be great. I understand it's extremely warded now, but more is never too much when dealing with someone like Delphini. We still don't comprehend how she's able to manage most of what she has been doing. So, I think it's a safe bet to go for excessive when it comes to wards and protections because we never know what she can somehow manage to break through."
The three Lestranges nodded nearly as one. Considering what they'd already gone through with the Dark Lord, they weren't about to argue with that.
"I asked him to place the wards which lean most heavily on transfiguration to keep them from being broken," Gellert said. Bellatrix turned to see him standing in the doorway of the Minister's office with Zabini at his side. "Right now we're using everyone's strengths, so that is what I, as Head of Defense, will be utilizing."
"Good, so that means we'll be engaging in a lot of killing and torturing," Bellatrix said, not bothering to hide the fact that she found this pleasing and deeply satisfying.
"You all have many other far more admirable talents and abilities," Dumbledore pronounced gravely, ruining the moment. Bellatrix opened her mouth to retort something about how he'd been rather open to her getting rid of Skeeter when a goblin wearing official Ministry robes came barreling up, shouting as he ran.
"Mr. Grindelwald! She's attacking Gringotts! Griphook said she's using something explosive!"
"Could that be Muggle tech?" Kereston wondered, gray-blue eyes flying to Grindelwald in open worry. No one had needed to ask the elf who SHE was because it was rather obvious.
"Perhaps," Gellert replied grimly. "But there are magical methods that could accomplish a similar effect as well. As we don't know what we're fighting, we will combat her from a distance this time," he decided. "It will be far safer, and I won't waste good lives going directly up against unknown odds."
Turning quickly to the goblin he asked, "Can you get us into a lower level of Gringotts?" The goblin quickly nodded. Grindelwald told him to wait, then sent several copies of his Patronus, a giant red and black spider, to summon Aurors to Kereston's office. "Of course the Minister must remain here, but the rest of you can come with us," Grindelwald said, taking in Dumbledore and the three Lestranges at a glance.
"Please be careful," Kereston said and Gellert nodded. The personal way their eyes met told Bellatrix that Kereston's concern was at least in part due to watching someone she cared for going into danger. That caring did not seem romantic, but rather, a brother and sister relationship. That was good, because Grindelwald and his boyfriend were practically joined at the soul from what Bellatrix had heard.
When the hall outside the Minister's office was jammed with Aurors, Gellert divulged his plan. "We are going into a lower level of Gringotts where she won't see us arrive. We are using projection charms to fight from a distance. I have a Monocle of Farseeing for combat, and I will use it to see outside the bank or on the top level, wherever she happens to be. Once we are ready, I will cast a projection charm on everyone's wand that will allow your spells to fly fifty times further than they would without this charm. Unfortunately, it won't make the spells stronger, but distance dueling is our main goal at this point. While more strength would be nice, that must be a project for another day. The inconsiderate girl has given us extremely short notice," he complained, and Bellatrix felt her lips twitch.
In truth, she was looking forward to this battle eagerly and already riding the early stages of an adrenaline battle high. Gellert excused himself to retrieve the Monocle he'd mentioned, then Apparated away.
"Did the two of you make this Farseeing Monocle," Kereston asked Blaise, and he nodded.
"I suppose soon we shall be making more. It appears we now have a need," the lanky wizard said drily.
"Blaise and Gellert are always making such brilliant enchanted items," Kereston said to the room at large. "I just wish they'd make something that could swallow Delphini up."
"That makes two of us," Romeo Valdez said fervently as Gellert Apparated back in, Monocle in hand. At once he got to work placing the charm of projection onto everyone's wands. This took less than two minutes, and when it was done, they took the Floo Network from Kereston's office into the office of the President of Gringotts. This was located midlevel in the bank and from there they were led downward by the Ministry goblin who had said he could take them. Though Bellatrix doubted he could do much in this battle, Rhadamanthus had come along, staying close to Rodolphus's side.
As they ran, one of the goblins who worked at the bank accompanied them, filling them in on what was happening. Delphini was outside, still attempting to batter down their defenses and slowly succeeding. She had suggested that they simply surrender all of the gold to remain unharmed, but no goblin was going to do that. A fact for which Bellatrix was exceedingly grateful considering all of the Lestrange and Black wealth was in Gringotts vaults.
When they were three levels from the very deepest crevice of the bank, Gellert indicated that he was satisfied with their location. There was a short wall made of solid gold in the middle of the corridor, and carnivorous plants lined the top of it in golden pots. They were obviously part of the bank's defense, and Bellatrix rather liked the aesthetic. The gold wall screamed obscene wealth, and the carnivorous plants were just soothing.
"Levitate yourselves and come down on the other side of that wall," Gellert instructed everyone decisively. "And mind the plants."
At once, everyone did as they were told, the group moving like an efficient machine. Bellatrix had to hand it to Grindelwald, he had the Aurors working well together and actually appearing competent. "Crouch down behind the wall so that it is blocking and shielding you," Gellert said, and everyone complied. Bellatrix crouched between the two Lestrange men, Rhadamanthus at their backs. Dumbledore flanked them on one side, Romeo on the other.
As everyone watched, Gellert held the Monocle to his eye, frowning in concentration as he searched for Delphini. "She was attempting to break in through the back, but that has apparently proven too difficult so she's headed back to the front again," he reported at last. "Let's strike her before she can make another attempt at the main door." He used a magnification spell on the Monocle so that the rest of them could see what he saw, Delphini's progress toward the front of Gringotts. She had others with her, faces deeply cowled in dark red robes.
"Well, at least the style is different than her daddy's Death Eater robes," Rabastan murmured with a smirk.
"When she is at the front door, we will allow her to tire herself down getting through it, then when she has, we will hit her with everything we have. Do what you're best at until I command otherwise. Blast her back, use the Killing Curse, petrify her, whatever you've got," Gellert instructed in a matter of fact tone.
To many that may sound disorganized, but as Delphini would be difficult to kill without a Basilisk fang, the aim was to knock her out or at least restrain her at present, then kill her later.
"No matter what, everyone stays down," Gellert commanded. "Do not rise for any reason. We have a chain of defense here. She cannot see us behind this wall. There are protections in place to keep us safe that she will be unable to break if no one stands up. While I was looking for her, Blaise and I were also setting up deflection wards. We will be safe from her direct attacks, and if for some unforeseen and insane reason things go entirely wrong, the wards will allow us enough time to escape with our lives and regroup."
Bellatrix rather liked the sound of that and from the relieved expressions on the faces around her, so did everyone else. Grindelwald looked after his own in a way the Dark Lord never had, she thought a little sadly. They waited in silence for nearly fifteen minutes, each collecting themselves and making their own battle strategy internally. Ready for action, Bellatrix was relieved when with a crash the massive front door of Gringotts finally gave way. Delphini stepped inside with nearly fifty red robed figures behind her. On Gellert's count of three, everyone struck at once, but Delphini struck back. Her spells tore through walls and even caused pieces of the stone floor itself to crack.
Bellatrix noticed some of Delphini's followers falling and not rising again, so some of her Killing Curses had hit home. She knew she wasn't the only one throwing them either. With the new Ministry's policy to kill hard criminals to keep the wizarding world safe, most everyone present was letting Killing Curses fly freely. Dumbledore was the only one who sought to disable instead, but of course he would, Bellatrix thought with an inner eye roll.
That was when it happened. Delphini had somehow gotten to Rod, and she held him in front of her like a shield, wand pressed into the back of his neck. His eyes were on Bellatrix's own, mouth contorted in a silent scream for help. Bellatrix answered his silent scream with a loud shriek of her own. She threw herself thoughtlessly over the wall, ready to Apparate directly in front of Delphini and tear her face off. "NO!" Bellatrix screamed again. She would not lose Rod. Not now, not ever. Hadn't they already been through enough? She just couldn't take any more and in sweet seconds that stupid girl would feel the Lestrange wrath for this.
A carnivorous plant snatched and snapped at Bella's sleeve, and someone snatched her by the waist from behind, swearing in Rod's voice. "God damn it, Bella! What the fuck are you doing?"
Feeling as if she were waking from a dream, she let out a sob and twisted around to see Rodolphus glaring down at her in perplexed shock. She blinked in confusion. He was here... Not there with Delphini. "But she had you," she insisted lamely. "I was coming after you. I was going to kill her for..."
She was interrupted by Grindelwald shouting angrily into her face, blue eyes snapping with rage. "I TOLD YOU TO STAY DOWN!"
Bellatrix actually cringed. His words were like a hard slap in the face, and it wasn't what she needed on top of the unnecessary emotional upheaval of thinking she'd nearly lost her husband.
"You didn't see," she asked, then looked around at everyone else. "Did no one else see that?" she demanded.
"See what," Romeo asked.
"She had Rod... Or she made me think I saw him being held in front of her like a shield. She was about to kill him!"
"How did she get him all the way there from here," Grindelwald asked and Bellatrix shook her head.
"Fuck! How should I know? She's been doing the impossible all week, hasn't she?"
"There is that," Romeo conceded. "No one else saw what you did, though, so it had to have been some mental trick."
"Like a snake charmer, all hypnotic," Bellatrix said darkly. As they conversed, everyone continued to fight while Blaise and Gellert recast the deflective shields. Currently they were still safe enough because Delphini was still quite far away and did not seem to be able to see their precise location as clearly as they could see hers. Bellatrix assumed she didn't need a precise location to screw with the mind of a chosen target if they were close enough, and she didn't like that one bit. No, it wouldn't do at all. She would have to really work on her mental shields. Until five minutes ago, she had believed them quite good, but now she was more than ready to make improvements.
A goblin Apparated in about five minutes later and vaulted over the wall to join Gellert. "We can retreat now if you wish, Mr. Grindelwald. We have removed all of the gold and property. If she ransacks the building now, she will only find desks and ledgers."
Gellert gave a satisfied grunt as he wiped sweat from his brow with the sleeve of his Ministry robe. "Let the bitch have it, then. Back to the Ministry, everyone."