Blurred Lines Mods (blurred_mods) wrote in blurred_lines, @ 2008-09-14 01:20:00 |
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BFOB - Group Log Part 2
Who: A fuckload of people
Where: Hogwarts & environs
When: 11p-1a 13 September
What: A fight
Rating: R
Status: Mostly complete
PART 2 OF 8
[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [summary]
Swearing, Dorian stepped back as the knife moved through the air in his direction and he ducked out of the way of it. His own train of thought ran along the same lines as Pepper's, knowing that he needed to be on the offensive. He rarely wished he had wands and magic and all of that stuff that wizards did, but tonight he rather did. He couldn't dwell on that, though, as he moved out of the way of the knife. He stepped too slowly once and cried out as the knife scratched down his arm. This only served to anger him, though and he moved in an attempt to catch the other man's fist once more, swinging to scratch at his face.
Pepper allowed himself a small thrill of exultation at the cry's indication that he'd hit, though no more than that, not when he was fighting someone faster than him, whose natural attack style was close combat like this, who was probably well older than him as well with plenty of time in perfecting technique. To underestimate him because he couldn't cast spells was a mistake. He dodged the one hand by thrusting forward with the knife, but the scratching fingers slid sharply across his skin, lines stinging behind them - hopefully not very deep, though he wouldn't have time to even spare a thought to them until later.
The edge of the knife scraped at his knuckles and Dorian sucked in a breath, though he exhaled quickly. There was a small sense of satisfaction as his nails raked along the other man's skin, but he pushed it back. His fingers itched to close around the man's throat, to yank at his hair and expose his neck; Dorian hadn't fed in long enough that he was out for blood tonight. The knife, though- Dorian knew that somehow he had to get that knife away from him, or even that wand, but for now the knife was the greater danger. He dodged again as the knife came swinging and hissed as it scratched down his arm yet again.
Spells that worked on vampires - Pepper's mind was racing, discounting some options - none of the Unforgivables would work, he didn't even need to bother with those, which was convenient with Rufus nearby, and curses... fucking christ who the fuck gave a damn about lists, he just needed to do some real damage. Dropping the lumos again, since it wasn't helping too much anymore now that the vampire had had time to get used to it, he cast a diffindo instead, lashing it out at his opponent's torso - did vampires bleed to death? It would be ironic, at least.
Dorian was just a moment too slow to duck out of the way, the spell hitting him in the middle and he groaned. He half wondered where the other vampires were and how they were doing, but didn't have the time to think on that for too long as he pulled back, ducking back into the shadows. He needed a moment to catch his breath-- he wasn't sure that he was going to get it, the way the man was on him, but if he could have just two seconds, just long enough to move behind him, then maybe he could do a little more damage.
Fuck it was hard to see properly without the light, but he needed his wand free and ready to cast again, cutting or blasting spells preferably. This was no time for finesse as long as he got the job done. Pepper peered into the shadows, trying to slow his breathing to hear the damn thing, but with Rufus and Elle battling their own demons so close by, that wasn't going to help. Fuck fuck fuck. He barely moved, just circling the tiniest bit to make sure he had the widest field of vision that he could easily manage, hoping his reflexes would be quick enough to notice when one of those patches of shadow started moving.
Dorian was as quiet as he could be, his arms going to his middle where the spell had hit him. He looked down, trying to see how much damage had been done, but couldn't see well enough-- it had ripped his shirt (and he'd really liked that shirt, too!) but oh well. He looked up, tilting his head slightly as he watched the wizard and Dorian stepped- slowly- in a wide circle to move behind him.
Oh, how he did not like this. Pepper knew it had only been a few seconds since he'd lost his mark, but it felt like longer simply because he was, well, a bit scared. Because that was the smart thing when you knew a vampire was somewhere nearby trying to eat you. Not that he had any thoughts that he was going to die here, he had every confidence that he would be able to fight the damn thing off until reinforcements arrived, but that didn't mean he wanted to get hurt or anything, and if he underestimated the danger... well, that was when death did become more likely.
Dorian's smile widened when he realized that the wizard hadn't realized where he was. He checked once more to be sure he knew which hand held the knife-- he needed to hold that hand out of the way. He was still for a moment, biding his time before he was on the wizard, teeth bared as one hand moved to pull his head to the side, the other wrapped around his wrist to hold the knife away. His teeth sunk into his neck and he closed his eyes as he tasted the first drops of blood.
Fucking-- fuck that was-- all kinds of fucking not good. Pepper felt a moment of uncharacteristic panic at the strange sensation oh god he could actually feel his blood being fucking sucked out that was so fucking creepy and there was pressure on his wrist, digging in and making it hard to keep his grip on the knife and ow that was really kind of fucking painful-- finally the situation actually crystallised in his mind and he just acted, dropping the knife and using his weight to wrench around, making a strangled cry of pain as the movement jolted teeth and flesh and opened up more of his neck down to his shoulder, but at least the momentum was hopefully just fucking enough to make the elbow aimed at the vampire's gut hurt to get the damn thing fucking off him so he could move his wand into his right hand.
Dorian felt his teeth break more skin as the wizard swung his weight around. He cried out, lifting his head as the elbow made contact with his side and he drew back. He released his wrist for a moment and made another grab, wanting to twist his arm behind his back. He missed, though, and his fingers closed around nothing but air.
Pepper was fighting on a combination of fear and adrenalin now, the two combining potently as he scrambled away from the vampire, instinctively going to find his balance again (oh thank fucking god for training Mags all week, he'd have to get her some fucking flowers or something). The last thing he wanted was to be knocked to the ground; he could get out of a hold if he had to, but it was far easier to stay on his feet in the first place. Barely even thinking about strategy or tactics, he shot out another diffindo, powerful with the motivation of not dying, quickly followed by a blasting curse as he remembered how much easier it was to double-cast with the edge of using his wand in his strong hand.
He was too slow to move out of the way- damn those wizards and their bloody magic. Dorian cried out in pain as invisible knives sliced at his stomach-- he doubled over and had a hell of a time not falling over. And then the second curse hit him and he went flying backwards, slamming against the side of a nearby building. His head hit the brick and he slumped to the ground, unconscious.
Thank fucking god. Pepper stayed still for a moment, waiting to see if the creature moved, inch by inch relaxing as seconds passed with no response. Once he was sure he turned to glance over the scuffed ground for his knife, grabbing it up and moving to see what the situation for the other two was.
</p>
Tabitha could feel her heart beating in her chest, pumping the blood through her veins, adrenaline rushing through her and she licked her lips, addicted to it like a potent drug. Oh, if only it were the full moon tonight -- she wished to be on all fours, all powerful muscle and jaws that tore so easily into flesh. These days that were so close to the full moon made her feel weak, as if she were buried underground, unable to breathe, suffocating, and all she had to do was dig just a little more and she would be free once more. Her eyes fell upon the blonde woman; she would be their prey tonight. Tabitha spared a quick, gentle caress to her husband's hand, for they would hunt together, always, side by side -- and then she attacked. The werewolf lunged at the girl, hands with sharp nails stretched out to grab her.
Elle's adrenaline, already pumping, shot into overdrive as Tabitha lunged at her. The bitch. Without hesitation, she brought up her knee, the flat of her foot out, and kicked away at the werewolf, aiming to hit her square in the chest and push her away. Her wand brandished, she aimed an Incarcerous at the woman; she knew it was a slim chance, but if she could capture the bitch, she could make her pay.
Her senses were firing, and she immediately took in stock where everyone else was. Her highest priority at the moment, other than Tabitha, was the location of her husband. She assumed they didn't fight far away from one another, and she wasn't about to be caught offguard by that bastard either.
Elle's assumption was right, and Aaron's rage had already been tapped at the Auror's attack on his wife. Nevermind that they were attacking, nevermind that this whole thing was their instigation; nobody hurt Tabby without Aaron taking payment. Snarling, he lunged at her, going for her wand hand.
Tabitha was so used to the wizards fighting with magic first that the kick surprised her, and she fell back when kicked away, landing on the ground. She snarled and started to get back to her feet again, intending to jump right back in to the fight, when the spell struck her head on. The ropes twisted around her limbs, but she wasn't about to sit idle as they tied her up -- Tabitha slashed her claws at the ropes, cutting them off before she was unable to use her arms. Finally standing back up, she grinned when she saw Aaron joining in, and Tabitha lashed out to attack at Elle's side.
Elle spun away from Aaron, her elbow coming back hard toward his face. The thing about Elle that made her different from other Aurors was her ability to fight hand to hand... and her preference for it. She glanced and saw Tabitha getting caught up on the ropes and turned her attention back to the ropes too soon to see the woman slash through them. She aimed a hard kick against Aaron's knee, but was thrown off balance by Tabitha attacking her from the side. She winced as she hit the ground but rolled away from the werewolf as soon as she could. She felt claws at her robes and she threw a punch toward the woman. But she was at a distinct disadvantage on the ground, and she knew it. She attempted to scramble to her feet, but wasn't sure if she was going to get that far.
Aaron missed his lunge for Elle's wand hand, but when Tabby knocked the blonde down, they had the advantage. He leapt, going to pin her legs. Two-on-one was hardly a fair fight, but her magic meant the numbers were a little fairer, and at any rate, Aaron didn't much care that they outnumbered her. He just wanted blood.
Elle kicked out hard and attempted to roll over so she could crawl up. She clutched her wand and aimed a freezing hex at Tabitha, hoping to slow her down so she could deal with Aaron as he pinned and attacked her legs. She turned her wand on him and went to cast a Blasting hex, but realized the werewolf was far too close to her own legs. She didn't want to end up like Moody, and so at the last moment she cast the same spell at Aaron - aiming to hit him with the freezing hex in the face.
Aaron snarled as the hex hit, falling back briefly and tumbling as he lost his balance. He was up before too long, shaking his head sharply to clear it, and dropped back down to all fours, waiting for the right time to lunge again.
The spell didn't hit, but it did slow Tabitha down, having to dodge out of the way to avoid it. A deep growl rose in her throat as she saw Aaron blasted away from the blonde woman with a spell, and she didn't wait to attack again, literally trying to pounce on Elle, clawing at her with her nails. The werewolf tried to force herself upon her, intent on sinking her teeth into the blonde Auror's throat. Unfortunately, Elle wasn't going to make ripping her throat out so easy for her, and once again Tabitha was thrown off. By the time the werewolf was back on her feet again, Elle was too, but Tabitha was already reaching for her once again, relentless in her attack. In a brief struggle, she grabbed onto Elle's wand arm, twisting it sharply behind the woman's back, dislocating it at the shoulder -- and the werewolf shoved her roughly onto the ground so she landed on that same shoulder, doing further damage.
3. 11.40p Death Eaters break through the gates
Just as the tunnel was beginning to get utterly intolerable, and Rodolphus felt that maybe he was getting two damned old for all of this, he felt the roof shift upwards, into a rising slope. Precisely as Snape had described it. "We're here," he said in a low growl, sweat and relief pouring from him as he moved up and onto the earthy rise. "Demetrius, get up here." And while the other death eater saw to shifting past all the women, Rodolphus moved up into the roots and toward the smooth cold of fresh air. The moon was getting close to full - and he pushed himself up through the gap in the roots and into the light - which was almost blinding compared to the dimness of a diffused lumos.
THWACK
A sharp growl of anger caught in Dolph's throat as a thin, leafy branch slapped him hard across the face, knocking his mask askew. He didn't waste the time to fully straighten it, for he could see the branches had barely begun, and he pulled himself sharply outward and into the trunk to let his back take the abuse of several whip-like and still-leafy limbs. Knot in the trunk - knot in the trunk. He pressed the closest at hand, but a sharp smack to the back of the head made it obvious that wasn't the right knot.
He was beginning to get angry.
The next and third didn't work either, and Rodolphus had just begun to wonder if perhaps Severus had not been telling quite the whole truth when his fingers stumbled across a deep curve in the wood. He pressed - and - (like magic!) the tree froze as if it were stone. "Safe!" He barked down, eyes now peeled across the grounds for any signs of company.
Narcissa winced as she heard the rustling of the tree- the Whomping Willow had been the source of jokes, legends and the occasional stupid dare since it had been planted in her fifth year of school. It was unfortunate that they had to arrive here, but it was fairly convenient that Dumbledore had not had the foresight to close up outside passages into Hogwarts. Perhaps the rumours were true, and he was going senile. She moved quickly out of the tunnel once Rodolphus announced it was safe to do so, taking a deep breath of the night air. The tunnel had been terribly hot. "How far from here should we pitch the tent?" She had no wish to get whacked by a temperamental tree.
"Several meters," Rodolphus replied quickly; he could see their comrades nearing the gates and he desired to get them in quickly before the castle was riled. "Be sure my sister places the appropriate disillusionment charms so that you are not targeted." Where was Demetrius? There was work to be done.
Demetrius stretched, his back popping loudly. He was too tall for tunnels, he decided right then and there. "What needs to be done, sir?" he asked politely, stepping forward finally. He examined the grounds carefully. Nothing was stirring, it seems the security on the school was not as excellent as Dumbledore assumed. Bouncing slightly on his heels, he awaited instructions.
Corbina pulled herself out from the tunnel under the tree, thankful to finally be in a place where she could stand up straight to her full height. There had been times in her life when Corbina had wished that she was as short as her fellows, and that had definitely been one of them. Hopefully the return trip would not be as bad, given that they had felt out the length of time that the journey back to Hogsmeade would take (especially since they would be apparating out as soon as they'd passed the outer wall). Moving past the rest of the girls, Corbina began placing the disillusionment charms that Rodolphus had discussed with her previously, already aware of what she was supposed to do.
"Gates have to be taken down;" without another word, Rodolphus set off toward the main gates. Mulciber wasn't there because of any special magical talent he had at breaking protection charms - no, that's what he was there to do - but he was quick and he was attentive, and if someone decided to come at them before the gates were down, action needed to be immediately taken. Hogwarts wasn't so unprotected that the aurors wouldn't be here soon - and Rodolphus suspected that as soon as they made it through the gates, the castle itself would have something to say about the intrusion. He made use of his height and made haste.
"Right," he said with a nod, following after Rodolphus quietly. It was unlikely they'd get through even breaking through the gates unnoticed, he knew that much. He wasn't exactly sure who would be after them at this point, the Aurors couldn't be that quick to respond. Everyone inside the castle should be asleep. Though Demetrius was quite curious on how the protection was going to be taken down; everyone had always claimed Hogwarts was the safest place for a wizard. Obviously not.
Persephone hadn't had as much trouble with the tunnel as the taller people had, though she was more than happy to straighten as they exited. She shifted the bag of supplies she carried to her other shoulder and moved to roll up her sleeves. She held back with the group as Corbina, Demetrius, and Rodolphus stepped forward, trusting that they would get things set up so that they could start this. She could feel a sudden rush of adrenaline, and her fingers itched to reach for her wand-- but that wasn't what she was here for. No, she would do as was needed of her. The second they gave the okay, she quickly moved to help set up their station.
Rodolphus moved off toward the gates with haste, glancing back only once to check that Demetrius was at his heels. His wand was out and in the dark he seemed a great hulking shadow, still partially stooped from the long walk through the tunnel. He and Aeneas, Antonin, and Walden were going to have an interesting time of bringing down the gate; it wasn't as heavily guarded as other parts of the campus, but it was enough to require them to concentrate his efforts.
"Remain here and watch for any signs of trouble," he husked, taking the final few steps of his own. Upon the other side, he could see his peers awaiting. He didn't bother conferring with them - they knew what they had to do. Raising his wands he began to search for the resonating signature of wards.
Aeneas waited on the other side of the gate with the others until he saw Rodolphus and soon he too raised his wand to the gate. The wards were strong on this side and even for those in the Inner Circle it would take a while. Time was of the essence here, and so he pushed his worries out of his head and concentrated soely on the gate. They would be able to handle whatever came along, without a doubt, but it would be much simpler of a task to open them before Aurors arrived.
At Rodolphus's arrival, Antonin moved forward with his wand raised, tilting his head and narrowing his eyes as he studied the wards. They were strong -- Dumbledore's work, no doubt, he thought with a sneer -- but the Inner Circle had numbers and experience on their side; the wards would come down eventually.
Take it slow, take your time. Mistakes are made in haste, and we can ill-afford them, he told himself, as he located a particular ward and began working on it, looking for any sign of weakness in it. The way through the armour of Hogwarts was in the chinks, the little holes that came from age and ill-repair. They would get through.
It took him a while to find that first thread, but Rodolphus finally located that first ward - the foundation for the others; somewhere unacknowledged his nerves were beginning to fray, for he did not like things that took undue time, and stopping for any purpose seemed a bad idea. Perhaps they ought to have brought brooms and simply flown over the walls - one of the ridiculous weaknesses that almost made these gates pointless. Oh, it was a symbol. A symbol of strength and of protection that would soon fall beneath the hands of the Dark Lord's most loyal servants.
The work was long and hard - not physically but mentally exhausting - but after Rodolphus managed to find the base of it all, things seemed to go a bit quicker. It amazed him slightly how even with all their powers combined the wards still took ages, but they did come down slowly and surely. Before too long he realised they were almost through, but it was no time yet to back off. "Almost," he grunted to no one in particular, as he was sure the others could tell too. They were almost through.
Demetrius had stood back, alternating between watching the older men work on the wards and studying the grounds; alert for anyone intent on interrupting their plan. Perhaps McGonagall. For a professor, she had always had a nasty temper. Or that lumbering oaf of a gamekeeper. His hut was close by, wasn’t it? Of course, Hagrid wouldn’t be a problem to take out. McGonagall would be a bit more difficult.
He could hold her off, naturally. But probably not defeat her. Perhaps they wouldn’t be spotted until the others had broken through? He could only hope. This hope was (as most of Demetrius’s hope in recent weeks) short lived, as when he turned to scan the grounds, the hulking figure of Hagrid appeared silhouetted in the distance. The oaf was running towards a group of Death Eaters, was he?
Demetrius didn’t even wait for orders to take care of this, he started towards Hagrid, intent to cut him off before the moron got too close to their camp. The closer he got, the easier it would be to take Hagrid down. It’s not as if he could use magic. Though too close and he’d enter the realm of physically fighting, and the gamekeeper did have at least two feet and probably a few hundred pounds of Demetrius.
So close, but not close enough to be within reach of those hams he called fists. Good plan. Apparently, Hagrid had spotted him, because he had stopped running. “Whaddya think yer doin’?!” the man shouted wildly.
Rolling his eyes, Demetrius pulled out his wand. Another step forward, and a flick of his wand. Conjunctivitis Curse was his first instinct, and apparently a good one. Hagrid clutched his face, howling in pain. He smiled. Nonverbal wasn’t quite as powerful, but it had done well enough. “Petrificus Totalus!” He had no idea if that would work. And if it did work, he had no idea for how long. The spell appeared to have done its job, and the huge man fell over with a earth-shaking THUMP.
He stepped a bit closer to the trapped gamekeeper. Just to be safe- “Incarcerous!” The ropes probably wouldn’t hold him much longer than the Body-Bind, but the longer they could keep Hagrid out of the fight, the better off the Death Eaters would be. Hand-to-hand combat wasn’t exactly something they trained for, and Hagrid had an obvious size advantage.
Stepping back to admire his work, Demetrius thought of a final touch. “Depulso.” He flicked his wand with a bit more force than he normally would, and the immobile body slid rather quickly across the damp grass.
Maybe the lumbering oaf would fall in the lake.
Satisfied with his work, Demetrius walked back to where the women were setting up.
For the first time in a while, Rodolphus was glad of Demetrius standing guard behind him, for though he could hear the alarm being raised, he could not stop now - not when they were nearly finished and any lapse in effort would bring their progress tumbling down. A few more strands - by Merlin, they were intricate - and
there.
The gates of Hogwarts had been breeched.
4. 11.50p Aberforth alerts the order
Aberforth leaned against the bar and looked around. The pub was fairly normal for a Saturday night with the curfew in place. Reasonably full but still strangely quiet. The racuous lot went to the Three Broomsticks, the quieter and more unsavoury types came to the Hog's Head. That's not to say it was quiet but it was certainly quieter than one might expect from a pub on a Saturday night. Business was good though, especially given the curfew. Aberforth had always disliked having a public floo but even he had to give in to public pressure and his regulars needed a way to get in and out without tripping the curfew alerts.
It was the way a small group of three patrons were staring out the window that caught his eye. Usually his patrons didn't much care about what was going on outside the pub but these three seemed quite fascinated, even agitated. Abe watched them for a moment then wandered over.
"Everything alright?" he asked idly, not expecting to hear much.
"There's people out there," one of the men said. "Odd looking lot. They look like they're wearing masks."
Abe raised an eyebrow. "Really?" he said mildly. He left the trio and ambled over to the door. He opened it and stuck his head out. The trio were right. There was a small group of people moving around out there in the dark who were wearing long robes and when he caught glimpses of them in the lights from the windows, they seemed to be wearing masks as well. He watched them for a brief moment then ducked back into the pub. Robes, masks and creeping around Hogsmeade in the night. He had a funny feeling he knew who those people were. He just didn't know what they were up other than something unpleasant. He hesitated for a moment longer then headed out to the tiny back office behind the bar. He grabbed his journal and scrawled a quick note to the Order.
Death Eaters in Hogsmeade. Come now. Be careful.
He could be wrong, of course, but frankly he'd rather be wrong and trigger a false alarm than be right, ignore it and have Merlin only knows what happen. He closed the journal, not waiting for any replies and walked back out into the pub.
"Everyone out via the floo!" he barked.
Silence fell and everyone stared at him. He glared back at them. "I wasn't joking. Everyone out. Use the floo. Just had word that the Aurors are about to descend on Hogsmeade in force."
That was enough to galvanise them. There probably wasn't a man or woman in the pub who wanted to be anywhere near the Aurors. That he'd conveniently left out the fact that the Aurors weren't coming for them was completely beside the point. There was a general rush for the floo with a few heading out to the back yard to apparate away. Aberforth watched them go and once the last of patron was gone, he began raising the wards around the pub.
5. 11.55p DMLE support arrives
(Gawain, Millicent, Kingsley + Rufus, Elle, Pepper vs. Fenrir, Tabby, Aaron, Nick, Dorian, Clara)
(Elladora, Kate, Frank, npc!Mitch + Jo, Snr) vs Antonin, Rab, Aquila, Alecto, Walden, Sev, Ben, Lucius)
AURORS/DARK ARMY
Rufus was growing tired; he'd already been attacked once by the bloody vampire, and though he'd managed to drive her - and Fenrir - off, again and again, he was realising that unless the rest of his team got here soon, he'd be forced to apparate out - or face a very messy end. "Pepper, fall back!" He bellowed out, throwing a stupefy at Fenrir and trip-jinxing Clara. He slid back along the sharp stone of the Three Broomsticks, conjured a sturdy brick wall, and braced himself behind it.
Pepper did not like those words, particularly. He was, however, not a Gryffindor, and well knew the wisdom of fleeing like a yellow-belly to be able to fight another day, so he didn't even give a thought to arguing, throwing out a couple of spells to distract the vampires so he could follow Rufus into the narrower alley. "Always got to be an alley, doesn't it?" he tossed out, strengthening Rufus' wards around them.
There had been no Aurors immediately visible from Apparation Point Six, or so much as Kingsley could make out upon arrival, and he had hoped to Helga that it wasn't a bad sign. Luckily for him it only took a short time for him to locate others, though he would have much rather have found Rufus and Pepper without a dark creatures separating him from his co-workers. He thanked his lucky stars that he had only been in the middle of his first drink when he got word of the situation in Hogsmeade instead of, say, his fourth or fifth drink, though he wasn't too happy that this was all happening after he had spent the last two days moving into his new flat.
Quietly approaching from behind he shot a silent stupefy at the closest dark creature, hoping to at least hit one or two before they realised he was there.
The stunning spell whizzed by Tabitha's face, just barely missing her, and she turned around to face the offender who had dared to attack her. The werewolf growled and made to attack the nearest person she could reach, lunging at Kingsley, knowing her husband could take care of himself so she could take care of their new friend. Her teeth were bared and hands bloody, she went first for his wand arm in an attempt to disarm him.
Kingsley did not want to be disarmed - in either the literal or the figurative sense. Any of the exhaustion he felt had disappeared with the adrenaline that began racing through his system and he was glad that he'd spent the last month practising for his final tests. He knew there wasn't enough time to dodge Tabitha (and shit he should have been more careful with that first spell) so instead he held out his arms, attempting to grab her and use his brute strength and her own momentum to knock her over.
He didn't know how long he was unconscious, but it was at least a few minutes before Dorian regained consciousness. He rolled over, blinking as he looked up to the sky above him. It was loud- far louder than he was used to- and he sat up, pushing his hair back from his eyes. Where was that man? It didn't matter. He was soon back on his feet and he quickly moved back out. His gaze moved out over the scene, landing on Tabby and another man-- he quickly circled around to attack the man from behind.
Tabitha attempted to grab onto Kingsley's arms, digging her claws into his skin, but despite her attempt to hold onto him so she could try and pull him down to the ground, she stumbled, knocked down to the ground herself instead. She landed on her back, but quickly rolled back over so she could stand up again, not wanting to be caught off guard. She noticed Dorian approaching Kingsley from behind and Tabitha smirked, mock-lunging at Kingsley to keep him distracted so Dorian could catch the Auror off guard.
"Shiiiiit," Kingsley said instinctively as his arms began to burn from the werewolf's nails. He dodged to the side, realising half-way through that he should probably use his wand. The years of being a boy in council housing who played outside with the other neighborhood boys taught him to rely on his fists first, a habit that had been hard to break upon entering Auror training and apparently was coming back to him now.
He found himsef easily out of Tabitha's way, but somehow it seemed too easy, and suddenly--
Dorian was on him soon after Tabitha moved back to her feet. He looked back to her, nodding slightly as his lips curved into a smile. His nails raked down the wizard's arm-- he wanted to draw blood, to drink it from him. He could smell it on Tabitha and it only made him want it more. One foot came up to kick at the back of the wizard's knee, hoping to knock him to the ground.
Kingsley stumbled, but was able to remain on his feet. He threw his back to the wall and the grittiness of the brick rubbed against this new cut on his arm, stinging like a bitch but he forced himself to ignore it. With his back against the wall he was under no fear of attack from behind, but he no longer saw the werewolf, Tabitha Pryce as he finally found the name that had been eluding him, and that worried him. Well, no matter, he still had an adversary in front of him. He looked down at the man, a good half-foot shorter than Kingsley, and did a quick analysis. Pale skin, thin, lack of wand visible - vampire was the obvious answer, and though he adjusted his tactics to fit this, he wouldn't dismiss all other possibilities.
"Impedimenta!" he cast, still not yet confident enough with non-verbal casting to rely on it in this high-stress time. With the vampire being wandless, there was less of a disadvantage to verbal spells and Kingsley didn't want to risk anything.
Dorian cursed as the man remained standing and he advanced toward him, jumping forward-- completely prepared to start scratching and pulling and shoving and whatever he might need to do. This was a battle, and so far as Dorian was concerned, he was having fun. Well, except for the getting knocked out and really kind of hurt bit. And honestly. He really liked that shirt! His fingers made contact with skin and he bared his teeth, wanting to bite any bit he could reach, wishing for blood.
Vampires, Kingsley knew, were stronger than the average man, but just knowing it didn't make things much easier. He felt teeth making contact with his shoulder and he squealed in pain, attempting to kick the man away from him. Yep, definitely a vampire. What to do what to do? Vampires were weak to garlic and sunlight - that much he had known even before he knew that they were real back when he was nothing but a young Muggle boy, but he had no garlic and the even casting Lumos wouldn't do much.
It was difficult to think with teeth still in his shoulder, but he managed to get his wand up to the vampire's chest and cast the first spell he could think of. "Incendio!"
Dorian moved away from the fire as quickly as he could, but the wand was aimed right at his chest and he couldn't get far away as he would have liked. He yelped but fell back, cursing to himself. He rolled over, smothering some of the flames that had caught onto his clothing and was back on his feet, lunging at the man, arms wrapping around his middle as he tackled him to the ground.
Kingsley hit the ground hard, knocking his head against the ground as he fell. Shiiiit that hurt. He brought his knee up to try to wedge it between himself and the vampire so he could push him away. He struggled to get his arms free, frantically trying to keep Dorian's teeth away from, well, any part of his body. He flung himself to the side trying to knock his attacker against the ground to weaken his grip. If he could just get his wand pointed at Dorian, he could use Expelliarmus to fling him away...
They rolled once or twice, and Dorian refused to let go. He tried an elbow to the man's side, reached up to rake his nails along the man's face-- anything he could think of to bring him down and keep him down. He felt the wand poke him as the other man tried to bring it up and Dorian frowned- he really hated those things. But then Dorian found himself yet again between somebody and a wall and he released him, attempting to scramble up to his feet.
It worked. Kingsley found himself released, though he could feel a trickle of blood on his face where the vampire's nails had torn into him. He acted fast, wasting no time to attack Dorian. The knee-reversal curse was the first thing that came to his mind, so he non-verbally cast it, hoping that it would give him enough of an advantage to be able to tie up his opponent before he struck again.
Dorian was back on his feet, but as he made to step forward, he was surprised to find his legs working incorrectly. He couldn't quite step forward and- holy mother of God- were his knees not bending correctly?! He threw his weight toward the other man and was relieved to find that his legs worked a moment later. His fingers wrapped around the other man's wrist as Dorian moved behind him, twisting his arm up behind him.
Kingsley howled in pain as he felt his arm slowly begin to snap, and the noise he heard as it broke sent shivers up his spine. He thanked his lucky stars that it wasn't his wand-hand, and he knew he'd have to find a time soon to put some basic healing spells on it because SHIT did it hurt. Kicking out behind him, Kingsley attempted to maneuver his way out of the vampire's grip while at the same time hexing him once again. "Reducto!" he shouted, wand pointed right at Dorian's shoulder. Hopefully that would incapacitate him, because sweat was pouring down Kingsley's face and he was having trouble concentrating due to the pain in his broken arm.
He grinned as he felt the bone snap in his grasp and he continued to twist, wanting to hurt the man as much as he was hurting. There was sweat and blood and dirt all over him, though, and he lost his grip, the dark man's arm slipping from him. In the next moment he felt another blast- God, he was beginning to hate that curse- and found himself flying backwards and into another wall.
Finding that the vampire was bouncing back too quickly for his liking, Kingsley realised he needed to end the battle soon or it could just go on all night. He hated harming people (even if they were vampires) and preferred to be on the defensive until he could incarcerate someone unharmed, but this was definitely not the time for that. Without even waiting for Dorian to hit the wall, Kingsley attacked again. "Furnunculus!" Boils spouted all over the vampire's body and Kingsley really hoped that, unlike the Knee-Reversal Hex, this one didn't fix itself too quickly.
Dorian's hands moved behind him to catch himself on the wall-- he still hit with more force than he cared for, but at least he didn't get knocked unconscious again. But then he cried out as he felt the boils bursting out all over his skin-- they itched and they burned. He scrambled back up to his feet, lunging back toward the wizard-- he was really angry this time.
Now to finish. "Incarcerous, he - OUCH. In casting the spell, he accidentally moved his broken wrist, sending pain shooting up his arm. He needed to take moment to heal himself, which now that a large rope was knotting itself around the vampire, he had. "Episkey." It didn't fix anything, but the swelling went down a bit and the pain subsided slightly.
One down, but that didn't mean the battle was over yet. That werewolf was still around, as well as numerous others, he was sure. Giving a little nod to the vampire tied up next to the wall, he set out to find the next dark creature.
The rope caught him as he lunged forward and he hollered again as it pushed him back. He fell to the ground, squirming, trying to untie it, to free himself. It didn't seem to work very well as the more he struggled, the tighter it seemed to wrap around him. He stilled for a moment, catching his breath, and he looked around for anybody who might be able to help him.
Clara's ears pricked at the sound of Dorian's voice, making noises she did not normally associate with "winning a fight". Hesitating on her way through the chaos, she glanced around for the source, snarling a little when she finally spotted him lying on the ground and darting over to aid him. He was bound with rope, but she could see where the knots were, and crouched down to wriggle the ends back through all the loops, tugging at it in the appropriate places until she felt it starten to loosen. She didn't even know what that knot was, but at least now she could just hook her fingers into the empty places and pull at the loops until they undid.
Dorian sighed in relief as Clara came over. "Thank you," he said, sitting up as the ropes well away. He rubbed at his wrists and looked back to her, tilting his head slightly. "It's a bit more than we expected, isn't it?" he asked, a little amused. He pushed himself back up to his feet and raked his fingers through his hair, pushing it back from his eyes. "Suppose we should get on with it, yeah?"
The battle was fragments and shadow and instinct for Millicent, and as horrible as it was - as terrifying and riveting and breathtakingly appalling as it all was - there was still a part of her that thrilled to finally be out of that fucking office, with a wand in her hand and a straightforward problem to solve. Dark creatures in the dark night weren't political, and hexes didn't need paperwork. She flung a stupefy after the flitting shadow of a vampire (she thought) and turned to see a pair of shadows grappling. One tall, could be familiar, the other snarling, female; Tabitha Pryce her brain declared. Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't, but Millicent shot a stinging hex at her in passing, not game to try anything else in such close quarters. Then she was on, skirting them at a generous distance, keeping on the move.
Fenrir ducked away from the stunner, growling low in his chest. Time and again Scrimgeour had driven he and Clara off and he was beyond frustrated. He wanted to get a piece of the man, just out of principle now more than anything else. He snarled again when he saw the wall that hadn't been there a moment ago. He was about to attempt another attck when he saw someone moving around the outskirts of the battle. A woman. A familiar woman. Millie. A slow, feral smile curved his lips and he darted into the shadows near the pub. Decisions, decisions... continue attacking Scrimegour or go after sweet Millie?
Picking herself up again, Clara looked around; there was more people here now, and further away, and the smell of blood over everything else, stronger in some places than others. The dark tall man that Dorian had been fighting stank of it, but he was moving away from her, and the ginger man was hiding now. Moving into the shadows, she trotted her way back to where the battle was happening, pausing to crouch and lick daintily at a light wound on her hand as she contemplated. She didn't see Dorian now, but that likely did not mean much. Fenrir was nearby though. Rising once more, she slunk towards him, ready to move toward whoever he thought would make a good target.
The werewolves were all aware of Fenrir's... fondness for Millicent Bagnold, and while Aaron would normally have gone right for the newcomer, he didn't want to deprive Fenrir of the chance to get up close and personal with his favourite witch. Still, hanging back would only get them killed; he was under no illusions that the witches and wizards would be going easy on them. Snarling, he lunged at Millicent, fingers curved claw-like to slash and tear.
Halfway through a stressed chuckle at Pepper, Rufus's eyes widened in half-relief half-confusion as the newcomers arrived. God damn it! What was Millicent doing here!? With a growl of frustration, he blasted through his newly created wall, sending the shrapnol flying toward Fenrir with a swift oppugno - he was exposing himself, but their bloody minister was out there, ex-hitwizard or no.
Fucking christ-- Pepper had seen the same thing as Rufus, along with one - no, two werewolves, and one of the vampires, all looking like they could make a very tasty meal of Minister a la mode. Clearly this meant it was time for some thrilling heroics, none of this fopping around with poncy spells like diffindo; scrambling to set up as strong a ward in front of them as he could manage quickly, he followed that with an incendio, aiming it at Fenrir. He needed to deal with the one closer to Millicent, but he didn't want to accidentally catch her with his angry-reacting-instinctive big spells. Gesturing to Rufus that he was going to circle round, he tried to recall what little stealth training the hit wizards got (as well as those things he'd learned elsewhere) and hoped like hell everyone was too fucking distracted by everything else to notice him before he got to Mill to help even the odds.
With Dorian busying himself fighting Kingsley, Tabitha's eyes scanned the battle field in search of Aaron, grinning when she found him attacking one of the other new arrivals. She ran across to join him, dodging out of the way of a stray hex -- she wasn't sure if it was meant for her or not, but it didn't matter. She moved to attack Millicent from the side; if both she and Aaron could drag her down to the ground, killing her would be an easy task, and she looked forward to sinking her teeth into the woman's throat. Tabitha stood back just long enough to wait for her chance to join the assault as Aaron lunged at her, and she lashed out at her side, grabbing for her wand arm.
THREAD TWO - AURORS/DES
Being awake at midnight was not nearly as unusual for Kate Proudfoot as it should have been. And when the alert had arrived that she was needed in Hogsmeade, it had taken her merely moments to slide on shoes and pull on her Auror robes. She'd grabbed her wand and Apparated rather than simply running outside. She could have raun through the streets, but other Aurors would be Apparating in, and she wished to arrive at the same time. The plan had been successful, for when she completed the Apparationg, she found that she was arriving at the same time as several other Ministry Aurors. She nodded at them, her hand on her wand and thankful for the back-up. So far as she could tell there was activity towards Hogwarts, and her mind immediately went to the castle. School had begun, which meant that there were children there: Children and teachers, and whatever the Death Eaters might want with the castle, Kate was suddenly very afraid. Whatever it was, it could not be good.
"Elladora! Frank!" she exclaimed, pointing in the direction of the castle and she was off towards Hogwarts as quickly as she could, knowing that she was probably being followed by some of the DMLE, although there was clearly another disturbance that was happening but there seemed to be Aurors already there.
Kate turned to make certain she had backup as she moved towards the Hogwarts, but she was more worried about Hogwarts as she was the disturbance in the street. As she headed in the direction of the castle she could see figures in dark cloaks milling around the gate. Determined and furious she moved quickly towards the gates at Hogwarts. They could not be thinking about taking the castle. The children in the castle - and children should not have to have a battleground in their backyard. But the Death Eaters had already proven that they did not care about children, hadn't they? The children had been the first to get sick and die in Tinworth.
Protego, expelliarmus, rictumsempra, a shield charm, and then a disarming spell and basic defense shot at the Death Eater nearest to her as she moved forward, now nearly at the gates in the shadow of Hogwarts' wall.
Elladora had apparated into Hogsmeade, prepared for next to anything, but what she was one of those things that she had would never happen again. Hogsmeade, Diagon Alley, and now back to Hogsmeade. Wait... No. Hearing Kate's exclamation, Elladora turned to look in the direction that she was taking off. They weren't attacking Hogsmeade. They were attacking Hogwarts! Why? What in the world would possess these morons to go after the place that taught all of Britain's wizarding children? Wouldn't that be like shooting yourself in the foot because you didn't like to look of your big toe?
Shaking off the extraneous thoughts, Elladora took off after Kate, throwing up a shielding charm as she shot out a stunner towards one of the shorter of the lot, following it up quickly with an attempt to disarm him. Her?
The trouble with attacking someone who was already on the defensive and who was sensitive to bright light, however, was that the light that accompanied the stunner alerted him in time for him to cast a shielding charm and turn, casting Incendio back at his attacker.
Fire. Oh, great. She had to end up getting one of the ones that liked to play with fire. Casting a aguamenti spell directly at the other that was coming towards her, the two of them colliding in mid-air and fizzling out. Well, it looked like she had found who she was going to have to deal with. She could only hope that more people got here soon. There was more of them than just her, Kate, and Frank could handle on their own. And she was not fond of the idea of having to retreat.
It wouldn't have surprised Frank at all if it turned out that most Aurors had some blood of the night-owl in them -- the ones he saw as he snapped into appearance in Hogsmeade were certainly sharp-eyed and capable (if not exactly comfortable) in this particular darkness. As it was, when the alert sounded, he had been in the process of committing the ultimate indulgence of going to bed before the clocks sounded midnight; it took only a few short minutes for him to impatiently rub sleep from his eyes as he shoved his feet into his shoes and shrugged into his Auror robes before Disapparating, the house's wards of protection and concealment resealing themselves seconds later.
Materializing again beyond the great wall of Hogwarts, he found himself standing with several other Aurors. Kate's shout and gesture that encompassed Hogwarts followed a similar track as Frank's thoughts: of all places, their school should be the place where children were completely and utterly safe. And so he took after Kate and Elladora at a run, wand out and at the ready, a shield charm in place as the dark figures by the gates came into sharp focus. The fact that the Death Eaters had a wall to watch the Aurors' approach from struck him as being total shit for their own strategy -- but for now, it was a body-bind curse, not a reducto, that was aimed at the Death Eater in his direct line of sight.
Severus had become aware of the new arrivals as spells had begun flying towards the Death Eaters, and his wand snapped up with an instantaneous shield charm in time to deflect a spell from the auror staring directly down at him. So much for quiet entry likely to keep people alive for longer, he thought cynically, as he followed the shield charm with Deprimo shot directly at the ground in front of the Auror. The blasting spell shot into the earth to spray dirt and grass everywhere. Put the auror off of his guard and require him to defend himself from things that were not Death Eaters and Death Eaters spells. The Ministry was outnumbered by the Death Eaters and they were odds that Severus preferred if he was going to keep himself alive.
Severus stepped out towards the man and followed his blasting spell by a silent tarantallegra and an Incendio shot directly at the man's sleeves. Let catch himself on fire while dancing, and he would make the flames worse himself. There was a certain irony in that. The first of the Death Eater's spells was perfectly aimed -- but Frank was no longer in place when the ground was torn apart. Experience had taught him that a wand aimed at the ground before you was almost (and quite often just) as dangerous as when it was aimed at you, as it usually meant the surrounding environment itself was being manipulated and used as a weapon; he was certainly close enough to the masked figure to see him take aim. Reacting instinctively, he Disapparated, re-appearing almost instantly in front of the newly formed hole.
The dancing-legs hex slammed against his shield charm before he'd managed to re-strengthen it; although it warded off the tarantallegra, his hurried Apparition had weakened it, and it faltered under the third of the Death Eater's strikes. The scent of singed fabric filled his nostrils, and with annoyance (or was it heat?) prickling at his skin, Frank flung his arm to the side, holding it away from his body as he directed a silent volley of stinging hexes at the other's hands -- one, two, three of them, followed by a Relashio that was intended to rid the other of his wand. As soon as he'd cast the spell, Frank threw up a new shield charm, then extinguished his smoldering sleeve.
Aquila felt a sudden thrill as adrenaline fueled him. In the midst of the chaos, he felt oddly comfortable, as if he was meant to be here, in this moment. Somehow, he found the energy of the battle exhilirating, especially after the stagnancy of France. He had waited. He had been patient. And now he was back, and the anger and indignancy over being exiled from his own home, forced into hiding, away from all those he knew and loved, allowed him to search for a target with purpose and vindictiveness. It so happened that one presented himself to him in due course. Aquila raised his wand and cast a Protego in defence of his fellow Death Eater, and then released a cutting hex aimed for the man's wand arm.
It was only after this that he recognised the mask of the Death Eater. It was Severus. Strange, he thought, that they should be fighting against a common enemy instead of each other. In the brief time he was allowed to think, he realised that perhaps their arguments of late had been petty. Wasn't it more important that they were both here? That they were both fighting? But instinct quickly replaced thought, and he readied himself, wand gripped tightly and eyes staring keenly through the mask.
Despite his best intentions, Severus realised as he stepped up to Frank Longbottom, he'd ended up fighting alongside Aquila. Hadn't he just thought that he didn't want to count on Aquila or Marius during this battle? But he was not petty enough to step away. This was business and he was above that, and if Aquila wasn't, then he would deal with that as it presented itself.
The truth was, as he cast an Expelliarmus to disarm Longbottom's shield, and followed it with "Furnunculus", that he did almost feel comfortable by Aquila's side. He knew Aquila's dueling strengths and weaknesses almost as well as he knew his own and although Avery had not practised with them over the past four months, Severus would still have understood either Aquila or Demetrius' styles over any other Death Eater on the field, with the exception, perhaps, of Mulciber, Sr. Their grudges and arguments had no place here. Severus had a duty, and he would not be accused of shirking it.
And then there were two. The second of the two Death Eaters aimed his attack; as the cutting hex hit home, Frank clearly recalled having concerns as to the integrity of his shield charms after having his arms so mangled by a werewolf. And, bloody buggering Christ, his arm had been targeted again -- blood was drawn, and with an irritated grunt hissing through his teeth, Frank released a vicious revulsion jinx followed by an Impendimenta that would hopefully get Aquila off his back as the first Death Eater was dealt with.
Unfortunately, said first Death Eater seemed to be familiar with the latter's offensive routine in that he instantly followed up the cutting spell with disarming and boil hexes; and Frank almost swore as his shield charm weakened once again. Only the fact that Severus had spoken the spell aloud saved Frank from the entirety of its disfiguring effects; he side-stepped it -- yet neither fast or far enough, as he was instantly presented with the unpleasant sensation of the skin of his wand arm stretching and tearing and, God, erupting... Obscuro was the hair-trigger, wordless spell that tore from his wand after he hurriedly switched it to his other hand; if it landed, it would blind the Death Eater to the cutting hex he now aimed at his wand arm.