An Ill Wind - Mod Journal (illwindmod) wrote in an_ill_wind, @ 2009-06-07 23:47:00 |
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Moody VERSUS Rodolphus
Immersed in his meeting with Crouch, Alastor spotted a flash of light speed down the hallway toward his office that appeared to be a Patronus. Cursing under his breath, he quickly excused himself and caught up with Aberforth's goat, which informed him of an attack on Hogsmeade. As he could not leave early from the discussion, Moody returned and at the meeting's conclusion, flat out sped towards the atrium whereupon he received Ed's labrador Patronus. Using the Floo Network to arrive just south of Hogsmeade in a deserted clothing store, Moody snatched up a grey robe and a mask to match as his Ministry attire would have been a dead giveaway of his Auror position.
Stepping out of the building and viewing the fiery chaos before him, Alastor held tightly to his wand and growled loudly, "Confringo," at the legs of a Death Eater who stood about twenty feet in front of him. He had decided not to aim the spell high in the air and risk taking a building with it. Thank Merlin he had studied the Dark Arts, he could probably toe the line with these prats if he had to. Meanwhile he waited for a strike of retribution that was certain to come very rapidly.
Rodolphus caught sight of Moody's blasting curse just in time to dive out of the way of it. It exploded what was quickly becoming less a sidewalk and street and more a mass of concrete and rubble. Rodolphus hit the flying bits of rock with an incendio, then used the same curse he'd just used to throw Sirius over the battling crowd to whip the now burning hot rocks back in Moody's direction as he clamored back up on his feet. A masked Order member! How quaint. Rodolphus intended to show no mercy with this one and quickly cast a silent expulso (at Moody's legs) and defodio (at his face) before bellowing, "Crucio!"
Grimacing at the sight of his wayward confringo curse, Moody quickly threw up a shield charm to protect from the storm of hot rock flying towards him. Although quick enough to deflect most projectiles, a few passed through the shield and burnt through his shoes before he could wordlessly dispel them. Quickly stepping behind a post to prevent the expulso charm from reaching his feet, Alastor watched as his former location erupted into flying debris and used the diversion to cast a nonverbal sectumsempra at Rodolphus’s shoulder. Seeing another charm heading in his direction, he quickly ducked behind another obstacle – this time an overturned park bench – before he poked his head around it to yell back, “Deprimo,” while pointing his wand at his attacker’s chest. As the Cruciatus curse sped in his direction, Moody put up a second Protego charm before yelping, “Diffindo,” and pointing his wand toward Lestrange’s non-wand arm.
Rodolphus deflected the sectumsempra and deprimo easily but the diffindo slashed his left arm deeply, causing him to wince. He threw up a hasty shield charm to repair the cut as best he could for the time being before whipping three quick and silent blasting hexes at the park bench the fool was crouching behind.
With pain impulses shooting through his singed foot, Moody cast a healing charm towards his foot at the same moment that Rodolphus cast three blasting curses at the bench. Surprisingly, he prevented the first two from hitting their intended target but the third blew up the bench. The explosion hurled a piece of wood through his left leg, causing him to yelp in pain. Alastor decided that the fight would be a lost cause, as he could not put much pressure on his leg. As such, he cast a quick disillusionment charm on himself and then a blasting curse at a light fixture above Lestrange’s head. Hopefully that distraction would serve its intended purpose, he thought as he limped towards a darkened business where he hoped to remove the particle and staunch the bleeding.
The broken light crashing down all over Rodolphus. By the time he looked up again the bastard had disappeared.
Alice & Lily VERSUS Rosalind
Alice had been fiddling with the mask she'd obtained recently since Aberforth's patronus had arrived, pacing the hall. She was supposed to be taking it easy. It had been over a week since her duel with that Death Eater, and she'd healed fine, aside from a faint scar where his sectumsempra had hit her leg. No matter what the Healers said, she wanted to be there. She wanted to help. The more of the Order who came to the aid, the sooner they could solve the problem.
Edgar's patronus caught her by surprise, but she didn't waste a moment. Trap or not, no matter how badly they were outnumbered, she couldn't wait. The Order couldn't wait. She secured the gray masquerade mask to her face with a charm, performed a quick glamour, and took a deep breath. She turned, and apparated into a glowing alley near to the Hog's Head. It was chaos, hexes flying everywhere, and her grip tightened on her wand. She was very glad she'd taken care of appearances before coming. Anyone she faced would see a brunette, and her mask would not come off easily. Alice was on high alert, keeping her eye out for any danger headed her way.
The Order hadn't faced anything like this in a long while.
Since her duel with Edgar Bones and his wife, Rosalind had taken the sidelines, giving her Death Eaters colleagues a chance to duel the few members of the resistance who had arrived as backup. She'd caught her breath, throwing curses here and there, but she was now ready for more - eager for it - and her wish was granted when more members of the resistance began to Apparate to help their stranded friends. A woman popped a few feet away from her in the alley by the Hog's Head and she didn't waste time, welcoming her with a silent Expelliarmus, immediately followed by a well-aimed (and silent as well) Incendio. Careful as always, she dueled silently so no one would recognise her voice - and so her opponents would be at a disadvantage, unable to know what was coming until it was almost on them.
She almost froze in surprise when flames from her own Incendio joined with those of burning buildings around them to illuminate the figure of her target, revealing her to be... pregnant! In Merlin's name, who sent pregnant women to fight such a battle? Was the resistance's numbers so low?
Alice noticed the Death Eater nearly too late and put up a quick Shield Charm, losing her grip on her wand momentarily as the silent spell tried to break through. She determined to focus as she sent a silent Aguamenti at the coming fire. She had a fair bit of experience in wordless magic, but she was only confident in the spells she'd used most frequently, and not many of them factored into her plans for fighting as a member of the Order. And without knowing what was coming, she'd have to keep a Shield Charm up as long as possible to defend against the enemy's spells.
"Obscuro!" she cried, casting a silent Stupefy to follow. Blocking her enemy's vision could be an effective way to get this duel started off in her favor.
Rosalind's defensive skills were her strength and a spoken spell made it far too easy to block. The blindfold fell to the ground before it reached her. She barely managed to deflect the stunning spell, not expecting a silent curse after a spoken one. It was a wise move from her opponent, who seemed to know how to fight - a fact which put a smile on her lips. She loved challenges.
Paying her opponent back in kind, she sent a Stupefy of her own, quickly followed by a blasting curse. Noticing bricks from a nearby house that had just been destroyed by another Death Eater, she sent them flying towards the pregnant witch with an Oppugno. Not a sound passed her lips as she fought, Rosalind casting all of those spells wordlessly.
Alice had her Shield Charm back in place before the Stunner hit, but the force of the blasting curse against her shield knocked her back. Her attention turned to the incoming objects. Casting a silent Banishing Charm to buy herself some time to deal with the attacking bricks, she quickly ran through her options in her mind. "Reducto!" she aimed at the bricks, blasting them one by one. A shower of their remains fell over the two witches, and Alice curled to protect her belly.
The brick scratched and hurt where it fell, her head throbbing slightly, and Alice had no time to process whether her opponent had caught any of it as well. She sent a silent Petrificus Totalus in the Death Eater's direction, followed by "Incendio!"
Rosalind had time to strengthen her shield before the bricks showered down on them. Noticing how her opponent curled on herself to protect her belly, she knew what to do next. First, though, she had to deflect the witch's attack. Wordless duelling was more challenging, and she kept her full attention on her opponent, observing her every move to recognise body language and wand movement. She identified the body-bind curse just in time to block it, while her shield took care of the flames sent her way. She did not waste time to reply, sending a Sectumsempra towards the pregnant woman's belly.
It hadn't been that long since another Death Eater had used that same spell against Alice, and she was glad she recognized it, fortifying her Shield Charm and quickly turning and crouching so that her left side would take the brunt of the blow. It crashed into her shield, and she could feel her shoulder sting where a slight trace of the spell had come through. Alice's eyes burned with fury. Her opponent's aim couldn't have been clearer. She realized she made herself and her unborn child a target this way, but it infuriated her how decisively that witch had gone for her weak spot.
"Diffindo! Deprimo!" she cried, a silent Confundo following the slashing and blasting charms. "Ferula!" she continued, sending the wooden rod flying at the Death Eater. True, she'd learned that spell in a first aid course, but it had its uses. And this witch was good, but Alice had been holding off on the harsher spells until now.
Rosalind blocked the spoken curses easily, and her shield took most of the blunt of the befuddling hex. She still felt some of it and she blinked, trying to shake off the slight haze that had come unto her. She didn't react quickly enough to block the last spell and had to jump back to avoid the wooden rod flying towards her. This drove her out of the alley where they'd been fighting so far and into the street, where many other duels were under way. Regaining her full senses, she strengthened her shield, which had lowered while she was befuddled, and attacked once more. She didn't pull any punches and murmured "Crucio", knowing that she was too far from her opponent for her voice to be heard, especially in the noisy street.
Alice had pushed forward with each spell, and now that she was in the street, she had a better view of the chaos all around her. It distracted her momentarily, seeing people fall all around her. Her shield was still up, but it wasn't strong enough to block the full force of the cruciatus. She screamed, fighting to keep her grasp on her wand and maintain her shield. She couldn't be sure how much of the curse was getting through, but she knew she wouldn't be able to hold it off for much longer.
Lily, a slight distance away and finally finished her duel with Lucius, heard Alice scream and recognized her (first by the sound, and then by her belly). Lily could see that she was struggling and cast a shield charm from where she was standing to surround both herself and Alice and slowly moved toward the other witch.
While her opponent had partially blocked the Cruciatus curse, she was struggling to keep up her shield and Rosalind knew better than to let such a chance pass up. She quickly cast a jelly-brain jinx, before she could strengthen her shield, stringed with an entrail-expelling curse. She was surprised to see them bounce back a new shield, only then noticing the second witch - pregnant as well! - advancing their way. Rosalind blanched under her mask, furious with herself for neglecting the surrounding fighters. Rage fueled her as she attacked the two pregnant women, hoping to kill four vermins in one go, with a rapid fire of blasting hex, incendio and sectumsempra.
Alice glanced gratefully at Lily, taking advantage of the overlapping shields to strengthen her own shield, also expanding it to cover her friend. The combined power of their shields kept her opponent's curses at bay, and another Aguamenti took care of the fire directed at them. Alice conjured three more wooden rods, combining them with an incendio, and sent the flaming rods at the Death Eater, spaced out in the hope that just one of them could catch her if she tried to dodge them.
Lily followed Alice with two blasting hexes aimed at either side of Rosalind, followed by a gouging hex thrown toward her ankles. She gestured toward the light fixture looming above Rosalind, lights flickering, and pointed it out to Alice. "Confringo on three?"
Rosalind's shield was very strong, thankfully, but sometime even the strongest shield wasn't enough. She turned the flaming wooden rods against the two witches with Oppugno, then jumped backwards to avoid the two blasting hexes, her shield protecting her from the gouging hex. Targeting the wall of the house just behind the two mothers-to-be, Rosalind casted Expulso, her intent on utter destruction, then used Oppugno once again on the stones, bricks and mortar that came flying. She completed the combo with a blasting curse of her own. Shields, even combined shields, could only do so much...
Alice nodded in agreement, but was distracted by the witch's retaliation. Gods, she was good... She stopped the wooden rods with an Impedimenta, but she couldn't do everything, and the wall behind them exploded. She managed to stop most of the attack, but there were a few stray pieces of brick that kept getting past her defenses, scratching up her arms. The blasting curse crashed into her shield, breaking the charm that held it in place. She swore, destroyed the last bit of brick, and did her best to ignore the stinging pain as she recast her shield.
Turning to Lily and making sure her friend was still faring well, she nodded, counted three, and sent a well-aimed "Confringo!" at the light fixture.
Lily was hit with a chunk of the brick as well, but it was nothing that deterred her at this point. "Confringo!" she yelled at the same time as Alice, their combined blasting hex breaking the metal and glass into sharp pieces that rained down in Rosalind's direction. "Incendio!" Lily snapped out, followed by a silent jet of boiling hot water.
Because she'd stepped back earlier to avoid the two blasting hexes, Rosalind was mostly out of the way of the light fixture by the time they blew it up. Metal and glass rained down in front of her, but a sharp piece, pushed by the wind it seemed, found its way further back to where she was standing and hit her on the shoulder, piercing her skin. She quickly cast a flame-freezing charm to block out the Incendio, throwing up a new shield just in time to block the boiling water. The sharp piece lodged in her shoulder caused her pain as she cast a freezing charm towards both her opponents.
At that very moment, Lily hated being pregnant. Neither of them seemed to be reacting quick enough to stop whatever the Death Eater was sending in their direction, so Lily grabbed Alice by the arm and yanked her bodily out of the way. Lily stumbled as she tried to stop, tripping backward over a piece of loose concrete. She managed to keep herself upright but ended up a few feet away from Alice. "Shit," she said, and then before she had a chance to move over and join back in, she was hit from behind with a conjuctivitis.
Alice was sorely frustrated with her reaction times, and was grateful to Lily for pulling her aside. Her arm throbbed where Lily had grabbed her, but she pushed the pain out of her mind, trying to focus back on the duel. She cast a blasting charm, followed by a silent Expelliarmus and Stupefy, then another blasting charm and an Incendio before she reinforced her shield charm. She glanced over at Lily, but the other witch had already been pulled into another duel. She'd have to finish this out on her own.
Rosalind would have liked to take out the shrapnel lodged in her shoulder, but there was no time. Pain soar each time she cast a spell but restricting wand movement would weaken them too much to risk it. Her shield blocked the avalanche of curses thrown her way, weakening with each one so that it was barely holding when the last one hit. She blocked the Incendio with a flame-freezing charm, then strengthened her shield before attacking once again. Sectumsempra, a jelly-leg jinx, Stupefy...
That damned Sectumsempra was getting on Alice's nerves, and it only strengthened her resolve. Her shield held, though her legs wobbled a bit and she wondered briefly if that jinx had gotten through. Of course, she'd been dueling for Merlin knows how long, and she wasn't supposed to be active at all. She aimed an Engorgio at the Death Eater's wand arm, followed by a Tarantallegra, Diffindo, and a stinging hex. Like hell she was going to let another spell get through her defenses. She glanced around the street near the Death Eater, wondering if there was anything she could send flying in her opponent's direction.
Her shield blocking the curses, Rosalind voted Protego the most useful spell ever created by wizardkind. Holding up a shield for such a long period was draining though and she hoped to finish this duel sooner than later. Not wasting any more time, she cast the killing curse, a jet of green light erupting from her wand with a rushing noise.
Alice swore loudly. She dropped her shield, certain that the witch wouldn't have bothered to send any other spells her direction. She hated how much they liked to use that damn killing curse. There wasn't anything near enough that she could throw between herself and the curse (though she wouldn't have minded having a Death Eater to throw there), so she jumped aside, catching herself with her hands. Pushing herself back up, she didn't bother standing all the way before she trained her wand on a bench and levitated it in the witch's general direction.
Rosalind hoped that her opponent hurt her baby, throwing herself out of the way of the killing curse like that. That would at least be satisfying, if not very useful in the here and now. Seeing the bench flying her way, she cast Oppugno to send it back towards the pregnant witch, putting as much velocity in it as she could with her shoulder still hurting.
Alice hit the bench with an Impedimenta, slowing it enough that it didn't reach her when it crashed back into the ground. She was back on her feet and prepared to send another round of curses at the Death Eater when Dumbledore appeared in the middle of the street, another man beside him. She restored her shield charm, just in case, but merely seeing the leader of their group filled her with hope.
Augustus Narrative
After the less-than-satisfying duel with Potter's wretched excuse for a son, Augustus was itching to cause damage - to redeem himself, in a way. The others were busy with their own fights, bodies piling up and the injured screaming all around him, and it really was too good of a time to spend sulking and fuming over not having killed the boy. After taking his annoyance out on the transfigured lion, he'd decided it was about time to begin really destroying the village, to show the blood traitors, the halfbloods, the muggle sympathisers, and anyone else that opposed them that the Death Eaters would not - could not - be stopped. They would kill and they would ruin and they would burn the village down to the ground to show the magnititude of their power. It was a beautiful thing.
There was a building to his right - in the chaos of the battle he couldn't make out which shop it was - but that hardly mattered, and he threw a powerful reducto at the building's foundation. There was a tremendous cracking sound, and the building shuddered and slumped in on itself, several windows shattering as the supports began to bend and break and the top story collapsed onto the floor below it. He smiled behind his mask and hurled a bolt of orange light at the front door, and the downstairs level exploded, wood and glass bursting out of the remaining windows, showering the street with the debris. The entire building collapsed in on itself with a massive crash, an enormous cloud of dust and debris errupting upwards as though a muggle bomb had gone off.
There was a quaint little restaurant a little further down the block, and Augustus set his sights on that next; a flick of his wand and the floor-to-ceiling windows exploded, sending jagged shards of glass and chunks of metal flying every which way. He flicked his wand again and sent the debris flying towards the nearby Order members locked in combat with the Death Eaters, assuming no one could possibly not appreciate the gesture. He was here to help, after all. Another flash of orange light was directed at the restaurant, and as the curse hit the kitchen area the building exploded, a massive fireball bursting through the roof, illuminating the entire street as the building's walls collapsed to the ground, already charring and smoldering from the force of the explosion. He laughed a little to himself, now that he was free to do so, and found that his mood had improved tenfold. It never hurt to look on the bright side of things, he'd always found.
Augustus turned his attention to the street, next, and with a carefully aimed curse the concrete swelled up like a tidal wave and burst spectacularly, destroying the street (and a way out of the village.) A push cart that had been on the street soared through the air, and as it flew past him Augustus caught it with an incendio, and it crashed through the roof of a nearby shop and caught fire. He smiled again, pleased as the roof of the building went up in flames, and he cast his final burst of orange light as he blew the top floor of the building off, the bottom level already beginning to crumble with the force of it. He could keep going all evening, if he so pleased, but news of the attacks would be getting out now, and there was no guarantee that he wouldn't be called into the Ministry at some point. The Department of Mysteries was, for the most part, self-contained, but in the event of 'attacks' they liked to keep them on hand, should anything out of the ordinary appear. He couldn't leave - and he had no desire to leave, not when things were going so well - but he needed to keep a lower profile so as not to accidentally reveal himself, or to be injured suspiciously in any way. With a satisfied nod of his head he left his mangled, ruined section of the street and set off for a quieter side street. There, he could take down more of the village, and have less of a chance of being interrupted - or spotted.