The complete Guild, plus companions, walked towards their box while trying to ignore the tumultuous noise that dominated the arena. Harry Potter ignored all the stares his group was drawing until Sirius stopped to speak with Arthur Weasley. The boy almost sneered at the bushy-haired girl, who was staring intently, and the young Weasley girl, who turned a deep crimson but kept her eyes fixed on him. He decided to keep walking and save himself the annoyance. After nodding at the twins' eldest brothers he left and his friends followed. He entered their box and admitted being pleased. It was amazing the lengths people went in order to please their saviour. Their box was in an excellent position to see the game and Nile himself had been in charge of making it decent, which meant it was the best place in the whole stadium.
Harry walked to the furthest seat and claimed it as his place after giving their escort a short farewell. He opened his book and began ignoring the foolish game he had been forced to attend. He would have been happy if he was allowed to be lost in his book, but it seemed fate had other plans. Hwasa took his book away and smiled at him with her most innocent face. He sighed and cursed the day Elizabeth and the princess became close friends.
"May I know what it is that you have against me enjoying my book?"
"You're here to enjoy the game, not the book."
"It just so happens that I don't enjoy this particular game," he deadpanned.
"Then enjoy the introductions at least. They will be interesting and I'll give it back after they're over," she stated and he knew he was defeated.
The boy ignored the opening speech someone gave, but the moment the Veela entered, he paid full attention. He could feel their allure brushing against his Occlumency shields and was curious about how their talents worked. However, his interest turned to disgust when he noticed the number of males that were affected by the Veela. Much to his relief, no one in his box was reacting that way... Not even Sirius, but that, perhaps, was because Amelia was sitting next to him and the man was not stupid enough to anger her. When the leprechauns' gold reached the stands and people started fighting over it, he had the urge to facepalm at their stupidity. Had they not attended Hogwarts? Were they so ignorant that they did not know that leprechaun gold disappeared after a few hours? He closed his eyes and decided to avoid the international embarrassment that the idiots were subjecting Britain to.
"Not the brightest people I've ever seen," Hwasa muttered and he was forced to agree.
"Please, pretend you saw nothing and let's forget this ever happened," he told the girl.
"If this happens every time, I understand why you'd want to read instead."
"Let's forget about it. I hope that the game is better and Magical Britain does not turn into the laughing stock of Ireland and Bulgaria."
"Did you enjoy the show?" she asked after a brief moment. Her neutral mask was unable to hide her eyes blazing in anger.
"They presented them as pets... Veela are powerful females; I have no idea why they are allowing themselves to be treated this way," he answered.
"Leprechauns possess special magic that creates the most potent illusions. They are a proud race of warriors, not pets for entertainment," she muttered with a slight sneer.
Harry agreed with her, it was a shame on how much other species had been subjugated, forgetting their own powerful roots and turning into what humans wanted them to be. He glared at the announcer, at the Veela and leprechauns; he glared at everything that was outside his box because, at the moment, it was the best he could do. He felt a cold hand gripping his forearm, breaking his anger induced trance. When he glared at the girl, he noticed that his magic was leaking, encasing them with an oppressive force that somehow the princess managed to conceal. Taking a deep calming breath, he looked at Hwasa and nodded as a way to express his gratitude. She was removing her hand from his arm when he stopped her. Taking out his wand, he cast heating charms around her and gave her a brief smirk. She stuck out her tongue, but the lifted corners of her mouth betrayed her amusement. He extended his hand and looked at her with a raised eyebrow. Hwasa sighed but handed the book to him. Harry gave her a mock bow and began reading, ignoring once again the ruckus that surrounded him.
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The Guild was in their tent, some celebrating and others complaining about the results of the game. Harry observed with amusement how Luna collected Galleons from all the idiots who had bet against her; two particular heavy pouches were placed into her hands by a grumbling Sirius and a defeated-looking Lucius.
"How was I supposed to believe that Ireland would win but Bulgaria would catch the Snitch," Sirius complained when he noticed his godson's taunting smile.
"We've learned to never bet against her," Lucius sighed.
"So how much did you win?" Blaise asked Luna.
"From Sirius, I got a hundred Galleons and his promise to stop competing with Flora about who has the best hair. From Draco's dad, I got three hundred Galleons and his secrets that keep his hair so perfect," she explained with a dreamy smile and Lucius left the lounge with a slight pink tint to his cheeks.
"So you got our family secrets," Draco joked.
"Yeah, but I'm never going to use them. The Malfoys spend far too much time on their appearances," the girl explained, causing most of the group to smile.
"Whatever, I'm going with Amelia to help her with her rounds," Sirius grumbled.
"Are you expecting any trouble?" Harry asked the man.
"Only overenthusiastic celebrations and drunkards," he muttered and left the tent.
The group talked and relaxed for an hour, deciding whether or not they should exercise to burn away the extra energy. Everything was calm, but they could hear all the loud celebrations and were beginning to get annoyed. Harry was starting to think the reason Luna had been tranquil was because Voldemort had decided not to attack the game... That positive thought did not last long, however. Sirius barged into the tent. His face was set in stone and Harry knew Luna had been right.
"Call the elves to pop you back to the castle! Eleadora! We need help; the bastard raised Inferi!" his godfather exclaimed. Eleadora paled, but stood up, looking determined.
"I will also go," Lucius announced.
"Me too," Narcissa offered herself and Sirius nodded.
"We're going to need all possible help. You call the elves and don't leave the tent for any reason; we'll meet you at the castle when everything is over!" Sirius ordered them and all the adults left.
Harry looked at all his friends. They were people who had trained for a long time, but they could all still fall against a seasoned opponent. He did not even want to think of that possibility, but he knew that he could not force them to stay while he fought. Ares and Mars popped in, followed by ten elves that looked ready for battle, carrying different bags with names.
"I won't order you to fight and, if I'm honest, I would like you to stay back, but I won't force you. Who will go with me?" he asked, feeling his chest constricting. When he saw all of them standing up, he closed his eyes. He was not ready to see his sister fight, but that was not his decision to take. "You all have the communication necklaces and we have trained with the armour. Let's get ready," he announced and they all neared an elf that handed each of them a bag that contained the special equipment.
"Don't think you'll be able to force me to stay," Hwasa said with narrowed eyes.
"Wouldn't dream of it; Elizabeth made sure you had your own," he said and signalled one of the two bags that were left.
In less than five minutes, they were ready. Harry Potter noticed, in a moment of cynic amusement, that they looked like trained soldiers and not the inexperienced, yet motivated, teenagers they were. Harry, Marcus, George, Hwasa, Fred, Adrian, and Terrence were the ones who were able to Apparate, so an elf took the hand of the people that were left and the tent was empty in less than a second.
Harry was not sure what he was expecting, but the amount of chaos that ruled the place was not what he had in mind. Many tents were burning and they could all see Aurors battling against Death Eaters, Dementors, and Inferi. Noticing their struggle, Harry cast the most potent Patronus he could muster; a gigantic basilisk left his wand and the Dementors fled in terror. His Patronus served as a momentary distraction, and that was the moment the Guild attacked.
Neville and Blaise paired up against a group of five Death Eaters that were surrounding two Aurors. Defeating them was easier than expected. Blaise negated their curses and Neville cast an intra perdere, a powerful spell based on destruction magic that obliterated the internal organs of a person. The Death Eaters were dead before they hit the ground. The pair left the two Aurors and searched for more adversaries when they saw the giants. Nodding at each other, they began their attack. Neville cast illusions at them. They began thrashing in fear and fighting invisible objects, so Blaise took the opportunity to use his black magic. Deep cuts began to appear on their skin, but it was not enough. Both boys looked at each other and nodded; they called the security elves. Neville increased the power of his illusions and the giants were paralyzed, but their muscles quivered in an effort to be free. Blaise centred himself and created a flagellum tenebris. A rope appeared and began snaking around the giants, leaving deep wounds on its path. The elves began attacking while the boys concentrated on keeping the creatures immobile and defenceless.
Draco and Luna saw two Aurors on the verge of losing and they joined the battle. Draco helped a tall man and did not play around. He killed the Death Eater as soon as possible and then proceeded to heal the injured Auror, who looked ready to collapse in exhaustion. Little Luna helped a scarred man and, while she enjoyed her duel, she got bored at the end. With a simple sanguinem judex, his opponent began screaming, experiencing the same pain he had caused to his victims. Less than a minute later, the enemy lay dead before her. She saw the injured Auror and called Draco to heal the man. When he arrived, she left in search of more opponents.
Daphne, Flora and Hestia were surrounded by Inferi the moment they arrived. The oldest girl created a whip with Fiendfyre and the creatures met a gruesome demise. They nodded to each other and began attacking a group of Death Eaters, who were either new recruits or extremely weak compared to them. Hestia was amazed at the number of followers Voldemort had managed to get. She signalled for her companions to cover her while she created a basic abjuration barrier that encased a large group of attackers. From one second to another, seventeen Death Eaters were unable to move while the white magic burned away anything related to evil magic in their bodies. The group met a gruesome end and the girls were able to understand how much the Dark Mark contaminated the magical core.
Marcus, Fred and George arrived in the middle of an almost-finished battle. Seven Death Eaters were closing in on a group of three Aurors that looked too injured to be fighting but kept on going nonetheless. George recognized what the amber eyes and chalky skin meant. They were under Harry's protection, which meant that they were under the Guild's protection. Marcus cast a barrier around them and they attacked. The twins were vicious and worked in perfect synchrony while he covered them from any possible attack. In the end, there were seven bodies around them. George took care of the injured while they searched for their next target.
Adrian, Terrence, and Theo were in charge of placing the barrier against Dementors. The Guild knew that those creatures needed to be repelled constantly during a battle because they never seemed to give up on their endeavour of kissing someone. Adrian cast a constant Patronus while the other two boys drew a simple, yet effective array based on white magic. They watched in satisfaction as the Dementors failed to enter the battle, then they proceeded to attack the beasts with Fiendfyre and white magic. It was gratifying to see those creatures disintegrate.
Hwasa and Elizabeth were the only ones that noticed the Muggle family that was being tortured by a woman with psychotic laughter. Hwasa sent a senbon to the neck of one of the men that was observing and he fell down. The deranged woman looked surprised and while the other man immediately tried to aid his fallen comrade. Noticing his fellow Death Eater had no pulse, the man began attacking Elizabeth, who deflected his curses as if they were simple jinxes. Hwasa and the woman, on the other hand, analyzed each other, both ready to attack.
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"You just killed my husband," the woman said with a wide smile.
"You can thank me later," she answered and the woman roared with shrill laughter.
Hwasa avoided the curses the woman was sending and hoped she did not kill her so-called husband by accident because they would need the paralyzed man for information. The girl admitted that the woman was a fierce warrior and she promised to never again complain about any of the extra lessons she had to take. Hwasa managed to stab the Death Eater in critical places and she would not notice until it was too late... They continued duelling and she called two elves to retrieve the family. The princess looked to the side and her chest swelled with pride. While Elizabeth was indeed young, the girl was lethal. Her training under Eleadora was obviously effective. The Death Eater seemed to be frustrated and getting desperate, but the man was an experienced fighter and did not allow himself to be defeated.
Severus Snape had been in a constant state of stress since the Dark Lord had returned, but it had reached its peak when he announced that they were attacking the Quidditch World Cup. He was sure that people would fight back; that was until they were getting ready and he noticed the hundreds of Inferi and the two giants joining them. They had caused too much fear and death during last war and, if you added the Dementors and Death Eaters, he was sure that, no matter how brave they were, people would run away because they were intelligent enough to know when they were bested.
When they arrived, the Dark Lord cast the Dark Mark into the sky, the poisonous green illuminating the night with an eerie glow. Bellatrix and her husband captured a family of Muggles and their fun started. They began setting fire to the tents and torturing the Muggles, their screams alerting the people that it was not a celebration getting out of hand. As he had predicted, people ran away in fear, though a few joined the battle. Even though he was not expecting to see so many Aurors, they were nothing compared to the hundreds of Inferi. His blood went cold when he saw Lucius and Narcissa battling Nott and Travers; he was not expecting them to join in and knew that it would be the last straw. The Dark Lord would kill the Malfoy family for daring to oppose him and there was nothing he could do to protect them...
Severus entered a state of raw desperation and confusion, trying to stun as many people as possible in his efforts to do something to help... A gigantic silvery snake illuminated the sky, scaring the Dementors away. He looked in the direction from where it was cast and his eyes widened. The large group of newcomers were all wearing identical dark robes and a grey mask that, unlike the one belonging to the Death Eaters, was a plain slate that hid their identities. For a moment, he believed that the disturbing newcomers were part of the attackers. That notion did not live long because they began attacking Death Eaters with a viciousness he had never witnessed.
As he saw them destroying the lines of attackers, there was no doubt left in his mind about them being demons. He saw them being hit by curses without being affected, which only enhanced their image of being unnatural. Severus did not know what they were, but he knew he would avoid them and preserve his life in the process... He saw two of them engaging the Lestranges as equals, managing to rescue the Muggle family, who somehow disappeared in less than a second, but he had no time to wonder about it because something he would have believed impossible happened. The two giants stopped wreaking havoc and seemed to be fighting against something invisible - something invisible that was defeating them. An enormous snake made of fire began attacking the Inferi. His heart almost stopped when he noticed the reason for its success; it was made from Fiendfyre. Someone had managed to control the curse and, if he was not sure before, he was now. Whoever those people were, they were demons.
Nymphadora Tonks had believed, until now, that the night shift was the worst because of how boring it was. Now she wished she could be bored instead of fighting for her life. The attack at the Cup had been unexpected, but that was not what had them at a disadvantage. The DMLE was well equipped and had twice the number of Aurors, but they were outnumbered against the hundreds of Inferi and Dementors that joined. Although most could cast a Patronus, it was a complicated charm that drained a lot of magic... She knew that she would die that night and decided she would take as many with her as she could. The sight of a gigantic Patronus gave her a sliver of hope, but when the Inferi began to be consumed by fire, her energy to fight was restored. Perhaps she might survive the encounter...
Kingsley was fighting with all his might. However he was tired and his magic was been drained but, if he died, he was going to drag this bastard with him. Someone he did not recognize joined the battle. Luckily, it was to help him. He stole a brief glimpse of the newcomers; they were wearing a mask that perturbed him more than the Dementors ever could. The person's small size but brutal curses only reinforced that idea... At last, a curse hit the Death Eater, who screamed until he died in agony. The person began approaching him and he pointed his wand reflexively. He was not sure who it was or why they had helped him, but he was sure the person was dangerous.
"I won't hurt you," a gentle voice came out and a chill went down his back. It was the voice of a young person; a young person that was able to kill without a second thought. "This is a Blood-Replenishing pill and Pepper-Up. Let me cast a few healing spells," the person offered, taking both things out of somewhere, and he nodded. Kingsley was not sure who they were or how were they trained, but he knew that, as long as they helped them, those devils were not so bad.
Alastor Moody was filled with adrenaline but, even in that state, he knew that it would be his last battle. But he would die like a warrior, protecting his people. He was fighting Rowle and, any other day, he might have enjoyed the challenge but, at the moment, his right leg was splintered and he had lost the feeling in his left arm. A petite person joined the duel and began attacking the bastard. He would have been impressed if the person had not let out a childish giggle when she hit Rowle with a spell that made him thrash in pain, and then used the chance to send a blood boiling curse to kill him with no hesitation. He was a man that followed his instincts but, at the moment, they were telling him to avoid a confrontation with the deranged female, and he was not sure how he felt about that. A person wearing the same outfit appeared beside her. They seemed to communicate somehow and she left.
"If you allow me, I can heal you," the male said and Moody nodded, but kept his wand ready just in case. He was sure that the healer was as vicious as the childish woman.
Amelia Bones did not know how to feel. Months ago, she had received an anonymous letter, warning her of a possible attack at the Cup. Even while feeling sceptical, she placed more Aurors on duty and did not regret her decision. Inferi were hard to fight against and Dementors were wreaking havoc with her people's fighting ability. If that was not enough, bloody giants were also attacking them! Sirius and she were back to back, fighting five Death Eaters. They made an excellent team, but she knew that it did not matter how good they were; numbers overwhelmed power. She was ready to die, regretting the idea of leaving her niece alone, but she hoped Susan would understand why she had given her life.
From one second to another, her opponents collapsed on the floor, but a greater threat replaced them. Two people were wearing dark robes and empty masks and, for a moment, she feared they were liches who were covering their appearance with that disguise. Much to her relief, they left and, for some reason, they were aiding her side. She decided not to complain. However, she was unable to forget the disturbing aura they brought with them.
Bellatrix was beyond furious; she was duelling some kind of Death Eater wannabe, but she was being pushed back. Curses she had never seen before were sent her way and the scoundrel kept stabbing her with something that looked like a needle but lit her nerves on fire. She was getting desperate and began sending killing curses. Much to her surprise, her opponent responded in the same way. She screamed in frustration, but she knew she was going to lose if this continued. She searched for her Lord and what she saw left her feeling incredulous. Someone had the nerve to duel with him! The problem was that her lord was not at his best, and fear for his health gripped her heart.
Voldemort laughed at the amount of havoc his Inferi were causing; people were running away and soon they would fear him once again. The giants were having fun destroying tents and rocks, so he decided to ignore them. Everything was perfect until he saw a snake made from Fiendfyre consuming his soldiers... It could not be possible! The last war, his Inferi had been rendered useless by three powerful magicals, but he had ensured they regretted crossing him. They could not have taught anyone else, so who was controlling the curse? He began the ritual to raise more when he saw someone approaching him, dressed in a cloak and wearing a blank mask. The imbecilic brat cast a blasting charm on the floor, forcing him to dodge and destroying his ritual array. He was annoyed, but he could feel how powerful the person was and decided to give them a second chance.
"What do we have here? Power... I can feel it in you. I don't know who you are, but I will be lenient; join my side and you will become even more powerful than you are. The simpletons around you will only drag you down. Join me and you will enjoy the freedom you never imagined having," he offered. The person was powerful and that was what he needed in his ranks.
"Even if I was a Muggleborn?" the boy asked.
"Your magic is powerful and that is all that matters... Last time I offered an unclean witch the same opportunity, she rejected it and now she's dead. Unlike her, you seem to be smart," he whispered, using his charm to entice the boy.
"Unclean, you said... What does that make you then? Born from a disgusting Muggle and a weak witch," the boy stated.
Voldemort had no idea how he knew that or if he was guessing, but he began attacking the insolent brat who needed to die. He was not expecting to find a challenge in the battle. The boy was unpredictable, never using the same attack twice and moving his wand from one hand to the other. He had trained for a long time to be ambidextrous, but it seemed he was not the only one. In less than a second, his left arm was chopped off by a cutting charm and he growled in frustration. This body was not powerful enough and he was pushing its limits. He decided that, whoever he was, the brat had earned himself a painful death. But now was not the time; he saw his followers being overpowered and knew that, if the situation was allowed to continue, all the recruiting he had done would be in vain. With a final killing curse directed at his opponent, he flew away in a cloud of dark smoke and the Death Eaters followed.
The battleground settled in eerie silence until the Aurors began celebrating because they had, against all odds, survived the battle. Amelia Bones observed the strange group, wand ready in case they began attacking them. She was not expecting them to disappear into thin air, as if they were never present in the first place.
"Who were they?" asked one of her Aurors.
"I have no idea, but I owe them one," Moody announced.
A unanimous agreement followed that announcement. Amelia did not know who they were, or even what they were, but she was thankful. They had survived the encounter, but she noticed that they were not ready to react in situations where they were outnumbered and she swore to change that. Sirius encased her in a hug that she returned. They had won indeed, but the number of deaths ripped her heart because she was sure they were only the first casualties of this new war.
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The Guild arrived at the castle and many collapsed in exhaustion. House-elves swarmed them and began healing the ones who were injured. Harry Potter observed his friends with a heavy heart. Blaise had two broken ribs, Daphne had a fractured arm, and Neville had an open gash on his leg. Pride swelled in his chest despite of the pain of seeing them hurt; they had fought and made a difference.
"I almost had the bitch!" Hwasa exclaimed, throwing an uncharacteristic tantrum.
"Who were you fighting with?" Marcus asked the scowling girl.
"Don't know her name. Wild hair, toad eyes, totally nuts, and worships your mouldy thing. I managed to inject enough Acromantula delta atracotoxin to ensure she's out of commission for a few months, that is if the coward manages to survive," she muttered, clearly annoyed.
"That must be Bellatrix. I have no idea who we were fighting, but they were about to take out Bill," Fred explained with a tired sigh.
"Hwasa and I were against the Lestranges. I hate those bastards," Elizabeth said.
"I helped Auror Moody. He will be important in the future," Luna said with a brief smile.
"We should name ourselves something!" Draco exclaimed, still full of adrenaline.
"Stop being childish," Hestia muttered but did not move otherwise.
"I saw you against Voldemort," Neville told Harry while leaning on Theo. "You were great."
"He's not in peak condition, and I thank the heavens for that. I managed to cut off his arm, though I would have preferred his head instead... He will need a new body soon," Harry sighed.
"We already took every precaution we were able to, but we are not omnipotent and there are many rituals to recreate a body. The best we can do is train harder and be ready," Elizabeth said while encasing him in a gentle hug. He sighed and accepted the comfort his sister was offering. Perhaps he would not be able to protect them forever and, as Hwasa said, he could not be Atlas all the time...
The next morning was marked by a ruckus. Eleadora wanted to examine all of them to ensure they were safe, while Narcissa did not stop hugging Draco. Lucius was in St. Mungo's; Eleadora had been able to heal most of the damage but he still needed to be hospitalized for a few days. Sirius was with Amelia, sorting out everything that happened, and that included counting the number of people that had died during the attack. Remus arrived as soon as he could and had been frantic, regretting his decision to not attend the game. Marcus, on the other hand, needed to leave early because of an emergency summons from the Minister, who seemed unable to breathe without the boy's help. The group concealed their exhaustion from the adults and pretended they wanted to spend a tranquil day between themselves.
"Master, your reporter is asking permission to speak with you," Ella informed Harry while the group was resting in the lounge of the garden.
"Please allow her to come, with the usual checks, of course," he told the little one and she nodded. Less than five minutes later Rita was popped in.
"Good morning. I'm sorry to come without announcing it earlier, but we have an emergency," the woman said looking agitated.
"We don't mind. Please take a seat, Rita. Now tell us what happened," Elizabeth said with a gentle smile.
"The Prophet wants to write about a group of people who appeared yesterday as a special unit of the DMLE, and Fudge agreed with this until Mister Travers suggested it was a terrible idea because Madam Bones could give a different version to The Magic Times Herald. But now he's deciding between declaring them to be enemies or a personal guard he trained. I have no idea what I should write for the article regarding this situation," she explained.
"Your Minister is a deluded fool," Hwasa stated, and no one contradicted her.
"Write nothing about them," Harry ordered after a moment. "I know that Madam Bones wants to keep them quiet until she's sure where their allegiances lie. Make it look as if they were part of the Aurors and ensure the Prophet receives ridicule for singling out powerful individuals that could become a target. I will get you an interview with a few Aurors and Madam Bones. Give details of what happened and, if possible, portray Voldemort as an incompetent shadow of himself... Don't forget to mention the fallen heroes and the attackers," Harry ordered and the woman took notes.
"I'll have it done as soon as possible so we can send it this evening."
"There's no hurry. We will publish it tomorrow. Make sure to add that we searched for reliable sources of information instead of publishing rumours; that will be enough to discredit whatever the others try to publish," Elizabeth said and he nodded in approval.
"Very well, I will be on my way."
"I will send one of my elves to take you to the DMLE for the interviews," Harry told the woman before she left.