Bellatrix was just opening her mouth to ask where Wulfric was so she could get more details on Delphini's demise when a very strange and very loud sound distracted everyone. They all turned to see the White House shaking then slowly crashing down. Bellatrix's mouth opened in silent horror. Regi and Kreacher were in there with a sleeping Kereston who Gellert had been so intent on keeping safe! Delphini's followers were in there, but they should still be knocked out, so what could be happening to cause the building to come down?
"Make it stop," Bellatrix screamed at Gellert. "Get your Aurors to make it stop! Regi and Kreacher are in there!"
Gods, Regi and Kreacher! All feelings of victory were forgotten in the face of such a devastating loss.
"The elves would be better at that and most of them are gone," Gellert snapped in frustration as he stared in horror at the falling building.
"I'll go get them out," Loughness said.
Gellert looked doubtful as another part of the building crashed. The look in Loughness's eyes was one of desperate fear for his parents. Bellatrix wondered if sending him in to likely get killed as well was what Regulus or Kreacher would want.
"They're vampires. Hopefully they will be alright," she said, having no idea if such was the case. They'd certainly have more of a chance than the little Minister. In all honesty, she spoke the words as much to reassure herself as she did to reassure Loughness.
"Kereston is in there, and she isn't a bloody vampire," Loughness shouted over the sound of rumbling as the building continued to fall.
The look of anguish on Loughness's face as he spoke was no surprise. He'd always had a huge Kereston fixation, swearing he'd marry her someday. The fact that she was twenty years or so older than he didn't phase him in the least as she still looked eighteen due to a bond with Kreacher, who as a vampire, never aged.
"You don't even know where they are, kid," Rabastan said. "You weren't in there with us, if you recall."
"Well, tell me!" Loughness shouted at him.
"No!" The call came from Albus Dumbledore. What with all the sounds of demolishment around them, the cracks of he and the rest Apparating back had gone unnoticed.
"It's Morgana causing the building to fall," he said. "It isn't intended to be stopped. She sent me to get Kereston, Kreacher, and Regulus out before she began her work. They are safe at 12 Grimmauld."
Bellatrix sagged in relief, exchanging a happy look with Rodolphus and Loughness as Albus continued.
"Well, she didn't exactly know they were in there, but she told me what she was about to do, and why, so we would not stop the process. She knew I would object so she spoke directly to me. I told her to hold off long enough for me to get them out and she did."
"She knew you would object, why," Bellatrix asked. Her gaze was still fixed on the building. It had nearly toppled completely and was now mostly rubble.
"She wanted all of Delphini's followers inside to die. She said no one left inside was innocent. She felt that if they were left alive, they would cause more trouble."
"All the Muggle politicians," Romeo Valdez exclaimed in shock. He'd come up to join Grindelwald as Albus was speaking, likely to ask instructions as to if anything should be done about the current state of things with the Muggle building.
"Many of them already cleared out when the rioting began outside," Albus said. "I suppose everyone left inside was guilty. Certainly everyone in that room that we first entered." He looked stricken, and Bellatrix wondered if he ever believed someone was worthy of death.
"Did you keep Kereston asleep," Gellert demanded, obviously caring no more about the bloodshed of those who would cause trouble later than Bellatrix did. "I wanted her asleep for a very good reason."
"He did, but Kreacher woke me up because Albus told him and Regulus that it was over. I got Stormy to Apparate me back to learn what happened, and as I told you earlier, there will be a political shit storm that I must help to handle, Gellert." The annoyed voice of Kereston spoke from just behind Grindelwald. Bellatrix turned to see her standing with one of Kreacher's four elves at her side, apparently Stormy.
"Gods, you silly little girl," Gellert grumbled, but swept the Minister into his arms and hugged her tight.
Kereston returned the hug, laughing and crying as she did. Bellatrix understood the sentiment. "You did it! You brought her down just as I knew you would. Gellert Grindelwald, you are the champion!" Kereston spoke the words into Gellert's chest, but they came out loudly enough to garner applause from everyone around.
"Bloody right he is," Wulfric Dumbledore called as he jogged up with Graven at his side. Cassius, carrying a still knocked out Lyra, brought up the rear. Wulfric still held the gleaming sword in his hand, though the blade was blackened in many spots as if it had been burned.
"Hi Dad," the red haired youth added as Albus grasped and embraced him hard. "Loughness and I couldn't have done it without Gellert's guidance," Wulfric continued to Kereston as he awkwardly patted Albus's back, his young face flushing with embarrassment. "I'm okay, Dad. I promise."
"Having children is the most terrifying thing in the world," Albus proclaimed shakily, and Bellatrix caught his eye and nodded.
"We continue to agree on things, and I'll have to get my head examined, Dumbledore," Rodolphus quipped.
Albus chuckled. "Don't worry yourself too much on that front, Rodolphus. I am quite certain that we shall always disagree on enough important fundamental principles."
Rod grinned back. "Well that's good then. I feel much better."
"I'm always glad to help," Albus said drily.
"Let's have every single detail on her death," Bellatrix said, turning to Wulfric.
Delphini was dead, and though Bellatrix knew it in her heart to be true, her mind needed a blow-by-blow of the event to solidify that reality and know precisely how the girl had died. Never to return and plague them with his eyes, or her destructive ambitions ever again.
"If you recall, Goriandor and I were busy distracting her for you, and Kereston was out so we missed the action!" Her words to Wulfric were flippant and nearly casual, but she could see the understanding in the young man's eyes nonetheless.
"Just call him Gori. I do," Gellert said, grinning at the goblin. "It suits him far better."
"I once preferred the dignity of Goriandor, but he's broken me into answering to whatever," Goriandor admitted with a look of chagrin.
"Well, thanks to all Gellert's planning and coordination, it was sort of simple if you ignore the general stress and terror over worrying what we'd do if things went entirely wrong," Wulfric said. "It would've been more of a scramble without your awesome distraction, so thank you both for that!"
Bella and Gori exchanged a brief smile as they nodded to Wulfric.
"Wait, distraction," Albus asked. "What did you do, Bellatrix?"
"It was bloody spectacular," Rabastan said excitedly. "She actually did the thing no one would expect her to ever do! It was brilliant! She took a super fast Muggle car and used it to kill a ton of Delphini's followers. Keeping our side safer and distracting Del for your boy, all in one beautiful act of rampant violence!"
Albus cringed. "Thank you, Bellatrix," he murmured.
"It was insanely impressive." Parvati spoke her agreement from where she stood at Rabastan's side.
"Can we return to the killing of Delphini, please," Bellatrix said a bit testily.
Everyone kept talking about other things, and she just wanted Wulfric to finish his recounting.
"Well, when you had her distracted, and she was attacking your car, I put on one of the magic unraveling amulets that Blaise and Gellert made," Wulfric said.
"Cas was unlocking a lot of her spells, but, by that point, she just had a sort of air shield around her to protect her from being physically touched. If he kept unlocking it, she'd just notice and keep moving. We wanted her to think we'd let up on her and were going after her followers. So Cas and the others were also fighting her wizards and Muggles, because some were on the other side of the building where you and Gori couldn't run them over. I figured if I put on the magic unraveling amulet I could get to her fast, and she'd not notice that in the way she would Cassius unlocking her spells. It worked. When she threw that giant ball of fire at the car, I stuck her with the sword."
"In the back," Bellatrix asked and Wulfric frowned.
"I had to take the opening I was given, and it isn't as if she'd have fought with honor. She just kept running when I faced her head on, and we still don't even understand all the power she was working with! Hell, we'll never understand all the power her damn father was working with. Who knows what that soulless monster was utilizing. We all know he had no limits!"
Bellatrix's lips twitched. "Easy, Dumbledore. I don't care where you stabbed her. I only wanted clarification so that I could envision it properly."
Wulfric's defensive expression relaxed and he grinned. "Okay then. When I stuck her with the sword, I ran her all the way through just to make sure it was done properly. Where I stuck her, the sword blackened, but so did she. It was the weirdest thing I'd ever seen the way her skin blistered and bubbled!"
"It even sizzled," Graven chimed in. "I was right there, so I heard."
Wulfric nodded. "It did sizzle!"
"That had to be the Horcrux dying too," Kereston said, and everyone nodded.
"Then I burned the body just as we planned," Loughness concluded. "I burned it to ash, then burned the ash. There is nothing left. I used the hottest fires elves have ever used in a kitchen."
Bellatrix nodded, giving him a proud smile.
Loughness had refused to learn how to cook or clean when Kreacher wished for him to learn how elves did things. Loughness refused, that is, until Stormy told him that the charms used for cooking and cleaning could also be used for battle. When the elf said one could boil a brain with the same method used to boil an egg, the boy was suddenly interested in learning his way around a kitchen. Likewise, when Stormy said one could remove the skin from a person or animal in the same way an elf removed dust from a table, Loughness was ready to learn cleaning as well.
The little Minister huffed a sigh and frowned at Gellert. "Thanks to your overprotection, not only did I miss the actual death, but I missed Bellatrix's wild ride too. Everything epic I missed!"
"We can share pensieve memories all around," Romeo suggested, and Bellatrix brightened as did Kereston and Gori.
"That would be brilliant," Gori said, grinning up at the Head Auror.
"Good," Romeo said. "Let's do it as soon as possible at the Ministry… At a much deserved party!"
Kereston smiled. "That sounds wonderful! For now, though, there is much diplomatic cleanup to be done, in both magical and Muggle sectors."
Bellatrix let out an inner groan, and from the looks on everyone else's faces, they'd done the same.