WHO: Lucius Malfoy, Sturgis Podmore, Molly Weasley, WHAT: Evacuating wandless WHEN: Evening, Friday, December 1 WHERE: Diagon Alley WARNINGS: Mild violence and injuries
As the Muggleborn wizard disappeared thanks to the portable portley, a glamoured Sturgis smiled. It had taken a bit of convincing from Molly and him, but now the plan to evacuate the Wandless was in full swing. There still were a few more to go and he was starting to feel antsy that they weren’t moving fast enough. Time was of the essence as always.
“All right. Who wants to be next?” Sturgis asked as he looked at the dwindling crowd. “I can assure you Scotland is wonderful this time of year.”
“You’re in good hands, dear,” Molly said, also glamoured but still unable to shed her maternal instincts as she helped a girl not much older than Ginny gather her things. “We’ll get you somewhere safe, and figure out what’s next.” She smoothed the girl’s hair back and gave her a kind smile. “There’s a telephone to contact your family if you want and everything there, we’ll take care of you.”
When she disappeared Molly turned back to stragglers. “And lucky number thirteen? We only have so much room this time, but we’ll be back to get more of you if you don’t think you’re quite ready yet today.”
“I most definitely promise we’ll be back to help more of you,” Sturgis chimed in as he scanned the small group waiting for another person to step forward for a portkey. “We’re not going to stop until each and every one of you is somewhere safe.”
Unfortunately for the two of them, Lucius was in the area. There was a tear in his robes that he'd acquired earlier that day, when he was leaving another shop, and the material required a special charm only Madam Malkin's was specialized in. A quick stop mended it easily, and perhaps it was the good spirit of his visit still lingering, because when he was about to leave Diagon, he witnessed a disappearing act. It was brief, but he knew it was a Portkey that had taken a Wandless away.
Their accomplice — or accomplices, he amended — weren't far off. There was a fleeting moment where he wondered whether he should stay, but it wasn't a thought to be entertained. The Dark Lord would know. "Incendio!" He said, loud and clear, aiming his wand at the Wandless' guides.
Without hesitation, Sturgis threw up a strong shield charm that was just enough to protect the small group from the flames, though the random boxes and papers in the tiny alley didn’t fair as well. He could hear the screams of some of the Wandless behind him, but the charm protecting them didn’t falter. “I think we need to move a bit faster...”
Lucius had no intention of letting them move at all. To that effect, he created a crack in the ground, separating one group of Wandless from their helpers, and charmed the few un-incinerated boxes around to attack the group trying to escape. The shield charm couldn't stay up forever, but he just need to break the man's concentration.
“Go,” Molly said to the wandless on the other side of the crack, loud enough that they could hear, but not so loud that Lucius could. “We or others will be back to help - you’ll know they’re friends because they’ll use the password Gideon. Don’t trust anyone who doesn’t have that password, it could be Death Eaters now that they know that we’re helping you,” she insisted, and then shooed them away.
Focusing then on the boxes flying at them, she did her best to send them flying in the opposite direction. “Depulso!” she shouted, “and depulso and depulso!” She’d been a bit of a dueler in her time, but her skills were rusty and she wasn’t as quick on her feet as she used to be. Once the boxes had been successfully banished, she nodded to Sturgis. “Can you get them away, dear? I think out of Diagon is a lost cause at this point, but get them away, at least, while I take care of our friend here.” She shot a weak exploding spell at the wall next to him, hoping for enough to distract him, though not so much to seriously injure.
“Not a problem,” Sturgis answered as the shield charm began to falter. While this was his area of expertise, keeping the shield going in the midst of what the Death Eater was trying to accomplish wasn’t an easy feat for anyone. It was eventually going to fall, but it might as well be on their terms. “On the count of three, I’m going to drop the shield. One. Two. Three!”
As the shield dropped, he apparated away with a loud pop and reappeared with the Wandless across the crack in the ground.
He was lucky that the spell cast at the wall had been weak enough it only knocked him back slightly, causing him to stumble backwards and clutch for something to remain upright. But at the same time he regained his balance, he caught of the other man's reappearance with the Wandless, as he began to usher them away. Lucius wasn't about to let that happen either. He sent a quick, almost lazy, Expulso their way, before turning his attention back to the woman. Luckily for Sturgis and the others, it missed.
"The DMLE will hear about this," he informed her, haughtily, as if the scene around them had none of the chaos that had just erupted. "If you come with me, you may be able to leave with just a warning."
“Hardly,” Molly spat back, doing her best not to show how much she despised Lucius, lest she give a hint as to who she actually was. “I’m not going anywhere with you,” she insisted, giving the wall on the other side a blast, hoping he’d take enough steps that she’d have the chance to get away without being trapped or followed.
"Your mistake," Lucius said, walking towards her with his wand at the ready, only to be caught by the wall exploding again, throwing him back further this time. There was a bump on the back of his head and he was dizzy when he got up, furious. She was leaving and he brought his wand up, casting a vicious Slicing Hex at her back.
The hex sliced through her clothes and into her back and she stumbled but kept running as she felt the fabric begin to stick to her, wet with blood. Once she was around the corner she leaned against a wall and took a short moment to compose herself before apparating to a nearby safehouse, and then once she knew she hadn’t been tracked, home.
Once he was left alone — barring the bystanders peering into the alley — Lucius took three deep breaths to contain his frustration. Not only had they left, they'd already taken some of the Wandless with them. He resisted the urge to kick some of the pieces of the wall that had cluttered around his feet, instead brushing off the dirt from his robes, scowling at the sight of the mess he'd made, and Apparating home. He was quickly understanding that Diagon held nothing but trouble.