Ministry Holding Facility, Mearn Castle, Scotland, 5/9/1993, 15:06
Auror Proudfoot was making his rounds through the ancient castle prison eagerly anticipating the end of his shift in less than an hour. There were only four aurors on duty here though that was more than enough to handle the day-to-day tasks. There were about a dozen prisoners here, all death eaters or people too dangerous to place in the muggle penal system.
Prisoners were kept in their cells almost twenty-four-seven so four aurors were more than enough guards. The guards only directly interacted with the prisoners one day a week and that was just to escort them to the showers and back to their cells.
He was just about to turn down the corridor that led to the cells well the building began to violently shake before he felt an overwhelming pain in his head like a migraine only a thousand times worse. Proudfoot collapsed to his knees bringing his hands to his head as he try futilely to escape the pain. To make matters worse an ear-splitting screeching filled the air as the prison's alert wards activated letting him know that the protections over the castle were under attack.
Unbeknownst to the auror, every other person who knew of the secret of this prison was suffering the same discomfort as the fedelius charm was torn apart from the inside out.
The pain in Auror Proudfoot's head kept building and building until suddenly there was a deafening 'CRASH' sound that reverberated through the ancient castle and the pain in his head began to ease up leaving him feeling very groggy.
He didn't have time to really think about what had happened before a series of explosions sounded overhead and he realized with a sinking feeling in his chest that they were under attack!
Auror Proudfoot scrambled to his feet and began to stagger down the corridor to the door that led up to the entrance hall. He had almost made it to the stairs when a familiar green spell missed him by a hair's breadth. Looking up towards the top of the stairs he spotted dozens of black-robed men with bone-white masks on their faces coming down the stairs towards him.
He raised his wand but by then it was too late to do anything more than cast a hasty shield charm. Thankfully his attackers were using standard bludgeoning spells that his shield was able to stop but he was still being pushed backwards every time a spell struck it.
All but two of the invaders moved down the hall towards the holding cells while the two remaining death eaters continued to mercilessly batter his shields with spells preventing him from being able to do anything but reinforce his shields.
He had no idea how long they had him pinned down but what seemed like an eternity later a male voice bellowed.
"They're free, time to go!"
Suddenly his attackers stopped firing spells at him before vanishing in a flash of blue light.
It took him a second to realize that the transportation wards over the castle must have fallen. The shell-shocked auror began running down the cell corridor finding the door to every cell open and the cells empty. Halfway down the corridor, he found Banning sprawled across the floor with a nasty gash across his chest.
After determining that his colleague was still breathing, Auror Proudfoot touched his wand to his auror badge and sent a distress call to the ministry.
It didn't take very long before aurors began pouring into the castle. Proudfoot was ushered to the side as healers began to converge on Banning while processing teams began inspecting the cells.
Not long after the processing team arrived someone hollered down the corridor.
"Get the unspeakables here, now!"
"Alright, Proudfoot what the hell happened here?!" A sharp female voice demanded.
Auror Proudfoot turned to see his boss standing before him looking to be in a towering temper.
"Somehow they took down our wards and blasted their way in, ma'am," Proudfoot explained as he watched a group of grey cloaks walk past him and step into one of the cells.
"What's going on, how did they manage to break through a fedelius charm?" Proudfoot demanded as the healers stretchered Banning past him.
"I have no idea but the processing team found signs of powerful dark magic inside inmate Snyde's cell," Amelia sighed.
"Bloody hell!" Proudfoot cursed.
"There is also an attack taking place at Montrose Stadium," Amelia added.
"A diversion?" Proudfoot suggested.
"Probably. I sent Mad-eye and a team of hit-wizards there but from my reports, the incident is already contained," Amelia said as one of the unspeakables exited Snyde's cell.
"Kramer, what did you find out?" Amelia demanded, getting straight to the point.
"A powerful ritual was performed inside that cell," Kramer answered looking very troubled.
"A ritual?" Amelia asked in a flat tone.
"Yes, the prisoner prepared herself prior to capture," Kramer elaborated.
"Do you know what ritual?" Amelia asked.
"Not precisely. All we can tell was that Miss Snyde sacrificed her magic to bring down the wards over the castle," Kramer shrugged.
"Her magic?!" Amelia gasped.
"That is our belief. There are certain signatures that lead us to believe she depleted her magical core to initiate the ritual," Kramer said as his colleagues exited the cell.
"So she was a Trojan horse," Proudfoot muttered.
"So it would seem," Amelia muttered as she pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration.
"We will be back in an hour to run more thorough tests on the area. Try and have your people out of here by then," Kramer ordered before stalking off to join the other unspeakables.
"Bloody tosser knows full well I don't answer to his department," Amelia muttered darkly as she glared at the retreating unspeakables' backs.
"Ma'am, what should I do?" Proudfoot asked feeling a bit lost with all the chaos going on around him.
"Get back to the ministry and write up your field report," Amelia instructed.
"Yes ma'am," Proudfoot nodded.
"And supply a copy of your memory as well," Amelia added.
"Of course," Proudfoot agreed.
"After that, get over to Montrose and figure out what the hell happened," Amelia continued.
"Yes Ma'am," Proudfoot replied before turning on his heel and moving off down the corridor.
He had never been more thrilled to leave this castle than he was right now. His pride had taken a devastating blow and he was very disappointed with his performance tonight. True he had been completely outnumbered but he froze up when the death eaters had entered the corridor and he had lost his only chance at catching them off guard.
That wasn't even factoring in what had happened to his coworkers. Out of the four aurors on duty tonight, he was the only one who hadn't been stretchered away to St Mungo's.
As he stepped into the entrance hall, he was amazed to see the damage done to the front of the castle. He was now pretty sure he knew where the first explosion had come from. He had seen the after-effects at Gringotts and the damage here was almost identical!
"Walking over the rubble-strewn floor, he stepped outside onto the lawn that was covered in even larger chunks of stone from the castle's wall.
Taking one last look at the devastation around him, Proudfoot turned on the spot and disappeared with a soft 'pop'.
Proudfoot just hoped he could finish up his report in time to be of some help at Montrose stadium.
Montrose Stadium, 5/9/1993, 15:06
Harry had taken the lead after the top of the stadium had burst into flames and quickly led their group down through the stadium. They had made it to the lobby on the ground floor where most people usually came to purchase snacks or go to the loo during games.
Luckily there were eight of these lobby/concession areas in the stadium allowing the stadium to empty fairly quickly in the event that multiple games were played in a single day, or in the rare event that there was a fire, the stadium could be evacuated in short order.
Being in one of the top boxes meant that their group were some of the last to make it to the lobby. They were currently following the crowd across the lobby with Harry, Sirius, Jonathan, and Michael Brown leading the group while the ladies stayed with the children in the back. All four men had their wands drawn as they crossed the quickly emptying lobby, all of them on high alert.
Their party was nearing the doors when terrified screams filtered in from outside and Harry could just make out the flash of spellfire through the open doors.
"Lookout!" Harry bellowed as he recognized the bright red colour of a blasting curse.
Harry cast a shield second before the doors leading outside exploded inward, sending people and debris flying through the air into the lobby crowded.
Harry felt his shield buckling from the impact as bits of wood and glass slammed into it but it held against even from the shockwave of the blasting spell itself, much to his relief.
Harry heard the children scream in terror and he glanced back to see that they were all thankfully unharmed if a little shaken up. He was pleased to see that his shield had prevented anything from going past him into the children.
Unfortunately for Michael Brown and Jonathan Greengrass, they weren't behind him and were tossed around in the blast landing sprawled out on the lobby floor with half a dozen other people who were caught by surprise in the blast.
Harry heard raucous laughter and turner to see four men stepping through the massive hole they had just created in the side of the stadium, their faces hidden behind red skull masks.
Harry felt fury flowing through his body, four men were standing between his children and their way out of the stadium. Harry could feel his magic reacting to his heightened emotions and glared murderously at his opponents, just waiting for them to make their first move.
"Drop your vands and ve shall not harm you," the largest of the four ordered his voice having a thick Bulgarian accent that reminded Harry of Viktor Krum.
"I have a counteroffer," Harry said as he stepped forward.
"Ja, what is that?" a shorter man asked in a mocking tone.
"Leave now and you might survive this day," Harry said his voice as cold as ice as he studied his opponents.
"We gave you the chance," The man on the right shrugged before he raised his wand.
With a lazy upward flick of his own wand, Harry sent a beam of blue light at the floor in front of the man who had just spoken. Harry had enough time to see a giant spiked fist made of stone burst from the floor and punch the death eater square in the chest before he was forced to deflect curses from the other three.
Immediately Harry could tell that these weren't run-of-the-mill death eaters, they fought as one, two of them casting spells, the other defending them from any incoming spells.
"Narcissa, get the children out of here," Harry called over his shoulder as he cast a spell that filled the lobby with a dense white fog.
"Dobby," Harry heard her call out before he focused on manoeuvring around his attackers who had stopped casting as they lost their bearings in the fog.
Harry heard them trying to vanish the fog to no avail and he stalked closer to them following the sounds of their voices. Behind him, he heard the sound of 'popping' as Dobby apparated the children away to safety, two at a time.
Harry was just closing in on his first victim when he heard his daughter scream sending fear like he never felt before through him. Seconds later he heard a soft 'thump' as the sound of a body hitting the ground echoed through the room.
"Vapouris evanesco," Harry muttered before casting a silent piercing hex as the fog started to clear away.
Harry was rewarded as the largest of the four death was struck in the chest before he collapsed to his knees with a look of shock etched onto his features as he looked down at the gaping hole the size of a galleon in his chest.
Harry turned to see another one of the four laying prone next to where Narcissa and Carina stood before he was forced to conjure a slab of stone to intercept a killing curse from the last death eater standing.
"You killed my brother," the death eater hissed before sending another killing curse.
"I gave you all the choice to leave, you didn't take it," Harry shrugged as he spotted Sirius moving to flank the man who was focused solely on Harry.
Behind him, he heard two more 'pops' signalling that the women and children had all been taken away to safety.
Harry continued to defend as Sirius got into position to take out the last death eater.
Seconds later a single stunning spell struck the death eater in the back dropping him like a stone.
"Bloody hell," Sirius muttered as he went around checking the bodies.
"They were pretty good," Harry mused.
"Not that good," Sirius muttered as he checked the man Harry had hit with a conjured fist.
"They were better than most of the death eaters I've faced off against," Harry shrugged.
"Well this one might make it, the other two are heading to the morgue," Sirius said as he pulled off the man's mask.
While Sirius was checking over the death eaters, Harry knelt down and began checking over Lord Brown.
"I wonder what killed this one, there isn't a single mark on him," Sirius said as Harry checked Jonathan noticing that the man had a nasty gash on his head.
"No idea. Where is the bloody ministry at, anyway?" Harry exclaimed as he cast a few diagnostic spells over Jonathan and was pleased to see that his vitals were fine.
"I don't know. I sent Amelia a patronus when the fires started so I imagine they'll be focusing on the other side of the stadium," Sirius said looking troubled.
Almost as if in answer to his question, a familiar figure stomped into the lobby trailed by seven cadets.
"Mad-Eye, what the hell took you lot so long?" Sirius demanded.
"The holding facility is under attack, Black!" Moody growled looking to be in a very foul mood.
"Impossible, it's under a bloody fedelius charm!" Sirius exclaimed looking disbelievingly at Alastor as if hoping the other man was joking.
"No shit! That is why your wife prioritized the prison, it looks like the attack here was just a distraction anyway," Moody retorted.
"I wouldn't say that," Harry cut in as he gestured to the unconscious death eater in front of him.
"You caught one?" Tonks exclaimed making her presence known.
"Technically Sirius caught this one. The one I caught is a little more banged up, Cadet Auror Tonks," Harry answered.
"We got two more that are dead," another cadet exclaimed.
"Alright, Meyers get the medi-wizards here to look at the injured. Jones, get a crime scene processing team here to process the scene. The rest of you shits get out there and figure out what happened here!" Moody ordered, causing his cadets to spring into action.
Moody waited until the lobby had cleared out before turning to the two men and speaking.
"So which one of you is responsible for the corpses?"
"I hit that one with a piercing hex but I have no idea what happened to the other one," Harry admitted as he gestured to the man with a gaping hole in his chest.
"I just stunned that one," Sirius shrugged.
"Great, I will have to call in an on-duty auror," Moody muttered before he touched his badge with the tip of his wand.
Before Sirius could ask any questions, a group of healers entered the lobby and began checking the people that were caught up in the explosion earlier.
Harry stood with Sirius and Moody as the crime scene team began to enter the lobby. They had the injured shipped off to St Mungo's in short order and soon it was just the processing team.
"Sir, we've checked out the two bodies. One shows clear signs of being hit with a piercing hex that struck him in the heart. The second one is strange, no signs of foreign magic, it's like he just dropped dead of natural causes," one of the ladies from the processing team explained looking perplexed.
Before Moody could reply, Kingsley Shacklebolt entered the lobby and made a beeline for Moody.
"Right mess you've got here, Mad-Eye," Kingsley chuckled as he looked around the lobby.
"The Arroes side is worse," Moody grunted.
"So what have you got here?" Kingsley asked.
"It looks like we had a four-man death eater team. They set the stands on fire and waited for people to come outside," Moody explained.
"I know that much, there is another team processing the other side of the stadium," Kingsley said.
"Well, these four tried to take on Black and Peverell. Two are dead and we have two more in custody," Moody elaborated.
"Any idea who they are?" Kingsley asked.
"Not a clue, the processing team is trying to get to the bottom of that," Moody shrugged.
"But you called me for the corpses," Kingsley sighed.
"Aye, we have to do this by the book and I am semi-retired" Moody agreed.
"You're only retired when it suits you," Kingsley scoffed.
"And right now it suits me, I hate bloody paperwork," Moody said as the processing team levitated one of the deceased death eaters past them.
"Alright, who offed them?" Kingsley asked, looming between the three men expectantly.
"Peverell of course," Moody exclaimed as if it were obvious.
"I took care of one of them but I'm not taking credit for the other," Harry exclaimed, shooting Moody a look of annoyance.
"I'll need to check your wand for the last ten spells you've cast," Kingsley said.
"Sure," Harry agreed before offering his wand to Kingsley handle first.
The next hour was spent going over the events of the attack at least a dozen times before submitting a copy of his memory for the record.
By the time that Kingsley was satisfied, the lobby had been cleared out so it was just the four of them left in the room.
Thankfully Sirius had sent word to the others so they wouldn't worry but Harry knew that Bella would be in a right state when he did return home.
Finally after what felt like hours, Kingsley and Moody had enough for their teport and left them to go check the progress on the other side of tge stadium where the cadets were busy cleaning up the rubble.
"I thought that would never end," Harry muttered as he watched the two aurors step out of the gaping hole in the side of the stadium.
"When there is a death involved, there is a lot of red tape," Sirius shrugged.
"Next time I'll just stun them," Harry chuckled.
"I'm pretty sure that you will be cleared of any wrong doing," Sirius assured him.
"I know I will but Bella is going to be furious when I get home," Harry scowled.
"So will Cissa," Sirius agreed.
"Might as well get it over with," Harry shrugged.
"I"m right behind you," Sirius grinned.
Harry turned on the spot and disapparated from the wrecked stadium lobby, trying to mentally prepare himself for his second interrogation of the night.
Meanwhile, Sirius apparated to a familiar pub in Tinsworth deciding to have a pint or two and let Harry deal with his hysterical cousins alone.
Riddle Manor, Little Hangleton, 5/9/1993, 15:08
Merula landed in an undignified heap facedown on the entrance hall floor of Riddle Manor.
She felt so weak that she could barely keep her eyes open. The cold stone underneath her felt almost soothing on her aching muscles and she was sorely tempted to succumb to the exhaustion and go to sleep right there.
Merula's eyes snapped open as she felt someone roll her over before a potion was none to gently poured into her mouth. Immediately she felt energy returning to her as she drank down the foul-tasting potion. She felt like she had just swallowed a whole cauldron of pepper-up potion though her muscles still felt extremely fatigued.
"Get up, Snyde," the familiar voice of Severus Snape drawled, pulling her back to the present.
"Can't," Merula mumbled as she looked blurrily up at the man kneeling over her.
"The dark lord wishes to speak with you immediately," Snape drawled, sounding impatient with her lack of action.
Shakily Merula pushed herself off of the cold stone floor, her muscles screaming in protest from the simple task. feeling like she had just run a marathon. Snape surprised her when he placed his hands on her shoulders to steady her long enough for her to get her balance.
"Come along, the dark lord awaits," Snape instructed in his usual cold tone before he turned on his heel.
Snape didn't seem to notice her discomfort as he began leading her towards the dark lord's study on the second floor, much to her consternation. The walk seemed to take an eternity and it was all she could manage to climb the stairs to the second-floor corridor.
Finally, they came to a stop in front of the dark lord's study and she exhaled a sigh of relief that the walking was finally over.
Severus knocked smartly on the door before turning on his heel and sweeping down the hall without another word, leaving Merula standing there glaring at his retreating back.
"Come in," Voldemort called pleasantly from the other side of the door.
Merula took a breath to prepare herself before she turned the knob and pushed open the door.
She stepped into the room and could feel cold sweat running down her forehead from the exertion of walking up the stairs but she pushed it from her mind as she took in the occupants of the room.
The dark lord was seated behind his desk looking at her critically, almost as if he were assessing her. There were two women seated on the other side of his desk in leather high-backed chairs, the first being Daciana who she could vaguely remember talking to. The second woman was a curvy redhead who she suspected was a vampire as well, though she couldn't be certain.
"Merula my dear, I thought that you might like your memories returned to you," Voldemort said pulling her from her observations.
"I would, my lord," Merula said a smile turning her lips upward as she moved forward and knelt at his feet.
Voldemort smiled approvingly as he removed a pensieve from his desk and waved his wand in an intricate figure-eight pattern causing the contents of the basin to turn into a grey misty gas-like substance that floated out of the bowl and began to waft towards her, obscuring Merula's view in a grey cloud.
Merula was suddenly assaulted with flashes from her past as her memories flowed back into her head. The process seemed to last for an eternity and the closest thing she could compare it to was a legilimency attack. She would see flashes of her own memories but not much more than that and before she could truly register what she was seeing, a new memory would flash through her mind.
Finally, the last memory entered her mind and the cloud around her disippated revealing the three other occupants of the room watching her with interest.
"How do you feel, Merula?" Voldemort questioned.
"Exhausted my lord," Merula admitted.
"That is because you have lost your magic," Voldemort mused as he lifted her left arm and inspected her dark mark closely.
Merula was shocked to see that her mark had almost faded away completely. All she could make out was a faint grey outline of the skull but it seemed to be lightening before her eyes.
"My l-lord?" Merula questioned her voice cracking as she processed what he had just said.
"In order to break the fidelius, I had to have you invoke an ancient ritual. Rituals always demand a sacrifice, in this case, the sacrifice was your magic," Voldemort explained as he released her hand letting her arm flop limply onto her thigh.
"I-I'm a squib?!" Merula gasped.
"Indeed you are, but it was a fair price to have my faithful returned to my service," Voldemort explained, sounding unbothered by her distress.
"C-can, I... Can I get my magic back?" Merula asked hopefully.
"No, the effects are permanent, I'm afraid but fear not, I have other plans for you my dear," Voldemort assured her.
Merula was about to ask what those plans were when she was lifted to her feet by two pairs of strong hands.
"There is still magic lingering in your blood which is why the dark mark has not faded entirely," Voldemort elaborated as he watched Bethany and Daciana lift her off of the floor.
"And it has been so long since we've had magical blood," Daciana whispered into her ear the smell of decay filling her nostrils.
"No! please stop this, my lord?!" Merula shrieked as Bethany leaned in and pushed her head to the side exposing her neck.
"I am afraid this is how you can best serve me now, my dear. I have no use for squibs and the vampire coven requires an offering," Voldemort explained as he watched the red-headed vampire expose her fangs and lean toward Merula's exposed neck.
"Pleeeeeaase ahhhhhhhh!" Merula shrieked.
Merula felt an agonizing pain in her beck as Bethany sank her razor-sharp fangs deep into her flesh and began to suckle her blood.
Merula gurgled in surprise as she felt a second stabbing pain, this time in her left wrist and glanced over to see Daciana had bitten her and was drinking greedily from her as well
Merula tried to squirm away from her attackers but she was quickly losing her strength and her vision was going black around the edges.
Merula's last conscious thought was that she would never forget this betrayal before she fell into unconsciousness and soon after, death as the vampire virus began to infect her body.
Daciana let out an unladylike burp as she released Merula's limp wrist and let the girl flop lifelessly to the ground.
"You will take her to the coven?" Voldemort questioned.
"Oh yes, I think it would be for the best," Daciana agreed.
"Excellent, I do not believe she will be as devoted to me after tonight," Voldemort mused sounding amused.
"I doubt she will remember tonight very clearly," Daciana lied easily.
"I would still prefer to have her killed," Voldemort sighed.
"She was part of my reason to come to Britain. I have wanted her for my coven since you sent her to visit us in Romania," Daciana said matter-of-factly as she watched Merula's bite marks begin to heal before her eyes.
"Then take her and be gone," Voldemort sighed as he gestured towards the door.
"As you wish," Daciana shrugged before she knelt down and scooped up Merula's limp form into her arms.
"Send word to Alana, I wish for a dozen more fighters," Bethany instructed after she had wiped a few drops of blood from the corner of her mouth with a handkerchief.
"I will bring the matter to the coven," Daciana answered though she doubted that they would agree to create yet more vampires to donate to Voldemort's army.
"You have my gratitude," Bethany said stiffly, a look of realization crossing her features as the two vampires' eyes met.
Daciana gave her a nod before turning on her heel and exiting the study, her thoughts on Bethany's request and the lifeless girl in her arms. Daciana carried the brunette down the hall and then descended the stairs ignoring the inquiring looks from death eaters she passed along the way.
Technically she had broken her deal with Dumbledore by turning Merula but they had yet to come to a formal agreement. Merula would make a fine vampire once she came around.
Daciana could already tell that Merula would not be pleased when she woke up, she recognized the look in the girl's eye, she had that same look in her own eye when she had been turned. She had also lied to Voldemort, every vampire remembers being bitten clearer than anything from their old life.
Daciana stepped out of the manor and into the moonless night. She quickly crossed the grounds, making her way toward one of the death eaters standing guard at the gates.
"Would you please apparate me to the outskirts of London?" Daciana whispered as she came to a stop in front of the wide-eyed death eater.
She could tell that he was about to refuse and applies pressure to his mind, causing the wizards's eyes to glaze over.
"Y-yes o-of course, m-my lady," the man stuttered and walked stiffly behind Daciana through the gates.
"This was the one limitation of being a vampire, she could not travel long distances near as fast as a wizard could. She could still fly a broomstick but she rarely had need of that as her bat form was quite useful. Unfortunately it was much slower than modern broomsticks and would not allow her to bring along a passenger which is why she was coercing this poor wizard to take her home.
She supposed that she could reward him for his help. He was quite handsome, tall with light blonde hair and well built from what she could see with those hideous robes he wore.
Daciana's thoughts came to an end as the wizard stopped and offered her his arm.
Daciana took hold and pulled back the pressure her magic was applying to his mind. The last thing she wanted was for him to be distracted and splinch her or Merula, after all.
Daciana felt the wizard turn on the spot a second before she felt that familiar constricting feeling in her chest as the wizard apparated them close to Carfax where the rest of her coven awaited her.