HP: MAGICAL LIFE CHAPTER 41 (Patreon)

Chapter 41

AMELIA BONES

Amelia Bones felt time slow down as the green bolt headed straight at Voldemort. She saw the bolt hit him as the area got covered in smoke. The Hall became quiet as she wished in her heart for this to be the end. Yet she knew it could never be this easy.

Never.

And her instincts were proven right as a wand slashed through the air and sucked up all the smoke giving her a clear view of Voldemort once again. There were hundreds of questions running through her mind.

How the hell had he even gotten through? Who had betrayed her? Who had assisted him? How had the Death Eaters gotten in? And were there more Death Eaters in the building at this time?

Yet she couldn’t let them slow her down. Dumbledore had stepped up and stood facing Voldemort The Aurors had come to the side and were shielding the regular reporters now, with the Death Eaters standing alert behind Voldemort himself.

“What are you doing here, Voldemort?” spoke Albus solemnly as he stood there before them all like a guardian. And Amelia Bones stepped forward, knowing in her heart that this might be her first and last address as the Minister.

Voldemort frowned at the question.

“You ask me what am I doing here? I am here to do exactly what the Minister has told me to do. I have come here to engage in politics,” he said with a sinister smile. Cameras flashed as they captured the pictures of his movement.

“I wished to congratulate you on your ascension Minister and hoped to tell you the voice of the people,” he spoke grandly as Rufus moved. Yet she stopped the man from doing anything rash as she spoke up herself.

“You kill thousands, murder them in cold blood, and you think you deserve to make a speech,” she said in a scathing tone, as she felt the Ministry wards strengthen up as Evacuation protocols got activated. With this, the only to leave the Ministry was through the floo network. However, Voldemort simply shook his head as he stepped forward.

The Aurors straightened up, yet they held themselves back as they all watched him speak into the cameras.

“They were simple sacrifices, noble in the sense that their deaths made it possible for me to stand here today. I came here in peace, hoping to talk with the new Minister and present her with my ideas and demands, yet it seems the society remains resistant to true change as always,” he finished speaking sadly.

Amelia’s mind was still racing about his real intentions. However, his tone suddenly became more hostile.

“I came in peace, yet the Ministry began this bloodshed when they attacked me. It is the Ministry that continues to defend those who defile our world with their dirty blood, who refuses to accept the superiority of blood and heritage,” then she suddenly noticed a small smile on his face as he aimed his wand straight at her.

“Then they leave with no choice!” she saw his wand light up with a green hue, and before she could react, a green bolt of death was headed toward her.

“Minister!” came the shouts as pandemonium broke out, Amelia tried to jump away but there was no time. In the end, she closed her eyes when suddenly an explosion pushed her back, making her hit the floor as she rolled on it.

Coughing and in pain. Yet alive.

“You have murdered thousands, yet you refuse to show remorse. The time for talking is long gone. You made a big mistake coming here today, Voldemort,” came the booming voice of Dumbledore as the man raised his wand and stood in front of Voldemort.

“We shall see about that old man!” came the response from Voldemort as his wand blurred through the air and the whole set of furniture around him morphed into gigantic snakes, which hissed and headed straight for Dumbledore.

Dumbledore raised his own wand, and just as the snakes reached near him, they transformed into a robe that tried to wrap itself around Voldemort. However, Voldemort wasn’t brought down so easily; he simply burned it off. Their duel continued as she tried to stand up.

“Minister!” came the voice as Scrimegour faced a dozed death eater and rushed towards her. There was fighting going on all around them as Aurors and Death Eaters clashed. She watched her Aurors getting pushed to the side due to the massive duel between Voldemort and Dumbledore in the center.

“Minister! Do we have permission to retaliate with full force!” questioned Scrimegour as she picked up her own wand and got ready. She looked around and noticed the Aurors getting pushed back, and then, with thin lips, she nodded.

“They are!” she spoke resolutely as she stood up and looked towards Kingsley, who was now fighting right behind her.

“What’s the situation in other departments? Are there death eaters on other floors?” she questioned him as she faced off against one of the Death Eaters.

“They are attacking them as well. They have taken over the third floor. The people there have barricaded themselves in their offices,” came the reply from the senior Auror, and she regretted not having greater security all over the Ministry, yet there was no time to lament over what could have been.

She disarmed the death eater attacking her and banished his body away as she rushed to support Kingsley.

“Take a team and push back, establish control over the floo, and have the people evacuate,” she ordered him as they both easily overpowered the single Death Eater he was facing.

“But Minister, Voldemort is right here. We can end this by getting to him right here,” argued Kingsley and she looked at the ensuing battle between Voldemort and Dumbledore, and it was like she was witnessing a clash of the gods themselves. Spells that she had never seen were being used like party tricks as the whole area around them had been torn apart.

Dumbledore seemed to be holding his own, yet the man held no edge in the fight, and as much as she wanted to interfere, she knew they would only be a hindrance. Moreso, she had to be prepared for the worst.

“If we interfere, we will only weigh Albus down. And I must prepare for the worst-case scenario as well,” she said as she shook her head. She saw Shacklebolt’s eyes tighten at her words as he nodded.

“As you order, Minister,” and she nodded as she stood up.

“Take a small team and get everyone at the upper floors that are trapped out. Any death eaters you find, kill on sight! We cannot let them hold our people as hostages!” she ordered as she joined Scrimegour. Kingsley vanished into the ruckus as he left to complete his mission.

“Rufus! Have the Aurors push the Death Eaters to the side. We need to isolate Voldemort and Dumbledore,” she ordered.

“But Minster, we can take him! This is a great opportunity to end all this,” and she gritted her teeth as she shook her head.

“We would only be hindering Albus if we try to intervene. We need to isolate the two of them so we can….” But suddenly, alarms began to ring once more in the Ministry Hall. Her eyes widened as she heard the announcement being made.

“ALERT! ALERT! AZKABAN IS UNDER ATTACK! AZKABAN IS UNDER ATTACK!”

And the words shook her, and her head snapped towards Voldemort, and she noticed a slight smile on his face.

“This was his plan all along! This all was a distraction to break out his followers in Azkaban!”

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ALBUS DUMBLEDORE

Dumbledore noticed the smile on Voldemort’s face as the announcement about the attack on Azkaban was made. He realized Tom’s plan now, and the events of the last couple of months began to make sense.

Dumbledore's grip tightened around his wand, his knuckles turning white, as he locked eyes with the embodiment of evil before him. Voldemort's snake-like features twisted into a cruel smile, his crimson eyes radiating a malevolent hunger for power. The area around them had become unrecognizable.

“It is time we bring this to an end, Albus. When you fall tonight, there will be none left to resist me and then I shall reshape the world in my image,” said Voldemort, and Albus shook his head, for those words only showed him Tom’s depravity.

“And will that satisfy you, Tom? Will you finally feel fulfilled after this?” and he saw his eyes blaze in anger as he slashed his wand and sent a torrent of flame straight at him.

“DON’T CALL ME THAT!” he roared, and Albus gripped his wand tight and slashed it, summoning water from the fountain to his side as it encapsulated the incoming flames, putting controlling them.

“I am no longer the child in your precious gilded castle Dumbledore! I am Lord Voldemort, the Dark Lord, and I shall rule this world after you put you in the grave old man,” said Voldemort as dark clouds erupted from him and coalesced into shadows, which at the wave of his wand suddenly rushed towards Albus.

Dumbledore felt pity for the depraved man standing in front of him as he raised his own wand.

“Isn’t it such a pity that I still miss the bright young student that entered through the gates of Hogwarts all those years ago,” Dumbledore brought down his wand.

“ILUMINOSIS CLENSO!” and light erupted from his wand, dousing the shadowy attack from Voldemort, which enraged the red-eyed man, and Dumbledore noticed the man’s nostrils flare in anger before he suddenly brought the wand to his mouth.

Voldemort spewed a huge torrent of flames from his mouth that engulfed nearly the whole hall, sparing not even his own men. He heard men shout in pain as they burned and the heat from the flames began melting the very stone of the Ministry Hall.

Dumbledore took a step back and saw the horrified look on everyone’s faces at the monstrous attack from Voldemort, yet he wasn’t done yet as he closed his eyes and communicated with his old trust companion.

“FAWKES!” he called, and the bird appeared in a burst of flame right in front of him and, with a calming caw, rushed towards the scathing fire.

“CAW!” and Dumbledore watched in awe as the flames began to coalesce around the phoenix, wrapping themselves around him as Fawkes fasted on the magical fire. Voldemort seemed taken aback by Fawkes’s presence and snarled as he sent a killing curse at the bird in question.

Fawkes simply wrapped its wings around itself and vanished into a burst of fire once more, but all this had given him the opportunity he needed as Dumbledore flicked the wand in his hand and sent lightning bolts at Voldemort.

Voldemort tried to put up a shield, yet he failed to do so in time.

BOOOM! Voldemort was pushed back when the lightning hit him in the chest, and Dumbledore did not let go of the opportunity, for Tom might be immortal at the moment due to his Horcruxes, yet it would still be a win if he could capture him.

Dumbledore aimed his wand at Tom and unleashed the lighting curse, a crackling blue bolt headed straight for Tom, who fired a killing curse at him instead of putting up a shield. The spells met each other with an explosion, and Tom had made a mistake. Dumbledore had been faster, and hence Dumbledore twisted his wand and began to push back.

Tom was surprised at his attack getting pushed back and snarled in anger as he tried to retaliate, yet Dumbledore had the upper hand, Their spells remained connected, and Dumbledore’s eyes narrowed as Tom suddenly disengaged his spell. His spell rushed at Tom, who twisted his wand and sent another spell at him, the purple orb caught him by surprise and Dumbledore could only bring his arm up to protect himself.

“AGHHHH!” the spell hit his other arm, and Dumbledore’s screamed in pain as his arm began to wither. He dropped to his knee and looked ahead, and saw that Tom hadn’t come out of it unscathed as well.

Tom’s wand arm had been burn to crisp and the his face snarled in pain and fury as Tom’s wand clattered to the ground.

“PROTECT THE DARK LORD!” came a shout, and before Dumbledore could throw another spell at the man, a couple of death eaters stood in front of him protectively.

“ALBUS!” screamed Amelia as she rushed towards him through a barrage of spells and curses. However, his eyes widened as Tom suddenly stood up again.

“GET OUT OF MY WAY!” he screamed, picking up his wand with his other hand.

“AVADA KEDAVRA!” he screamed, uncaring that the spell killed his own man, the Death Eater scurried out of the way as Dumbledore saw him level the wand at him.

“IT’S OVER, OLD MAN!” cursed Voldemort as a sharp serpent made of green flames rushed straight at him. Dumbledore tried to bring up his wand to defend himself, yet the pain made him falter,

“ALBUS!” he heard Amelia scream as Voldemort smiled triumphantly, assured of his victory. Dumbledore resigned himself to his fate as he saw the serpent rush toward him.

“May you find true peace, Tom,” he prayed as he closed his eyes, preparing himself for his demise, yet it seemed fate wasn’t done with him just yet.

“PROTEGO DIABOLICA!” he heard someone instead a familiar shout.

BOOOM!

He was pushed back by the force of the clash of the two spells, and he opened his eyes to find himself surrounded by a ring of fire as it defended him against Voldemort’s attack.

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