The Greedy Frog
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Hey, I Ruin Stories Chapter 22
🕑 Added 2024-05-15 06:27:45 +0000 UTCChapter 22: Jailbreak
[Wednesday — Malfoy Manor]
{Narcissa Malfoy}
N-No.
Why?
This cannot be true. Surely not!
“Unfortunately, I do not think you will be able to keep most of what you own.”
This cannot be!
“Most of the money in your treasury, most of the things inside the manor and even some of the properties that you own will be confiscated .”
No! I cannot allow this!
“We own them,” We did. It was ours, it was of House Malfoy’s. “My husband earned them with his blood and sweat. It belongs to him and our house, and later it will be of Draco’s!”
“Sadly the law does not share the same view.” He sat in front of us, no respect in his voice, just the fake words. “What you have is exported out of the poor and of the muggle. We strictly abhor such practices. Not only did your husband cheat the poor and the innocent, he tried to cheat the law too.”
“It is a setup!” He was not foolish enough to get pinned like this. Someone else, someone at a much higher position was pulling strings. “Surely your law can figure it out?”
The Aurors behind him, both in brown, tried to move forward —pull their wands, but they didn't do that. They were stopped by him, the man currently holding the power on Minister West's behalf.
“The law can, and it did figure it out. Your husband was not the one pulling strings, he was the one responsible for the creation of those string pullers.” His eyes were dark, dark circles encircling them. “At what position he got himself to, he didn't need to do a thing. Everything and everyone moved for him, that’s the level of corrupt success your husband had reached.”
“Careful…” My voice fell lower than our distance. “You are accusing a lord of the Sacred Twenty-Eight.”
There were crimes and then there were offenses that should not be made if one wanted to live in the magical world —and offending the Sacred Twenty-Eight was one of them.
However, he laughed. He laughed at the centuries old history and hierarchy.
“Do remember, Lady of Malfoy.” His expression stiffened immediately. “The law, the ministry is something that is above the Sacred Twenty-Eight. History shows and history teaches how dangerous it is to let the Sacred Twenty-Eight control the politics and the economy, hence the ministry was born. Not you, not the Sacred Twenty-Eight combined can go against the Ministry of Magic.”
No!
He cannot be imprisoned! I refuse to allow that!
“He cannot go to prison.” I will never allow it. “He is a lord.”
“And lords are not sent to simple prisons, they are sent to Azkaban, Lady.” Saying this he stood up, “And considering how long he had been running this, the number of lives he has destroyed and the harm he has caused, you can be certain that he will be in the deepest part of Azkaban.”
“You cannot do that!”
He nodded, “Truly, I cannot. But I do not have to.” He gave a smile, a very odious smile. “I simply came here hoping to see him, hoping to have him agree to surrender himself. But he hid himself, you hid him and now… the consequences might be worse, not for him but for your family too.”
“Get out…” I ought to kill him. “Get out before I curse you!”
And yet this abhorrent substitute of a minister laughed.
“And that will only make matters worse for you, Lady of Malfoy.” He walked back, without turning around. “Better prepare an attorney, but it won't help.”
He took a few steps back before turning back entirely, “And maybe… just maybe you should prepare your son to be the new Lord of Malfoy.”
“GET OUT!”
…
…
[Late Evening — 12 Grimmauld Place, London]
[Order of the Phoenix]
{Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore}
In just a few days since Harry saw him, the situation had gotten worse.
Much worse.
“There are still many Death Eaters that are still free, many that never were in Azkaban.”
She was not wrong, there are still many that hide alongside the people we work with.
“And how many are from the Sacred Twenty-Eight?”
Again they had a point.
“Most that are from the Sacred Twenty-Eight are in Azkaban and some turned to a new leaf,” That was very unlikely. “Or so they claim.”
“We cannot trust them, hence why we never asked for them to join.” The Order of the Phoenix was the main line of defense between him and the innocent wizards. “But now, since the Death Eaters are on the move and he is alive, hiding somewhere, we need to be stronger than ever.”
Each individual in the room, from members of powerful families to people in the ministry, every single one of them had one thing in common —that was their love for duty over their family and pride.
“We… will need more people with us.”
“Who?” Who can we even call for? “There are not many that are willing to risk their lives, not when this threat is still considered to be a mere rumor by most.”
“There are a few that can help.” Molly Weasley, someone that I did not expect to be a part of this discussion joined in. “And you know who I am talking about, Professor.”
I had to look at her, deep in her eyes, but no… she was not making a light-hearted suggestion. She was serious.
“He is a child.”
I cannot involve him, not now. He has not even completed his life’s first year of schooling yet.
“I know what I am suggesting, Professor.” But she… she was adamant. “And in that list of suggestions, my son comes too.”
Ron… She was willing to have her son fight in this cause to protect the lives of every other innocent person.
“I still cannot agree to have them fight, Molly.” It was just not possible. Sending children on such suicidal mission was not something that I could do.
“He has seen—” She paused, clenched her fists and said, “He has seen you-know-who.”
And that he has.
“But he is incapable of fighting. He is barely twelve, Molly. He is a child, a boy that has barely crossed the first decade of his life.”
“And he had faced he-who-shall-not-be-named not once but twice. And the first time he faced the man, that man, not that demon, was forced to vanish for over a decade. And even now when he faced the demon, he was able to make him run.”
It wasn't as easy as she thought.
“Luck does not favor a person the third time.” Those two times he had both luck and the protection of his parents with him. But he won't have that every time. “I refuse to let my students jump onto the mouth of death.”
Molly had a frown, but she sat without uttering another word. Still hoping that I would consider bringing Harry to the Order of the Phoenix.
“But it is true that we need people, Professor.” Minerva knew that we needed more people, everyone knew. But who do we bring? We couldn't bring a person that would run away or die just from seeing that man. And we cannot bring someone who will betray us for their survival.
“But who can we even bring?” I asked, if anything. We were weaker than ever. James and Lily were not here. Sirius was in prison, the other two were still missing and even Hagrid is still recovering.
Most of the Order of the Phoenix has died off in the previous war or are left incapable of joining another fight.
“What about…” Minerva’s eyes squinted and her voice lowered. “What about Darius Safar?”
Safar?
“He has joined us recently, how do you suggest that he even qualifies for the order of the Phoenix?”
Safar was not British, he had no reason to join British politics if he wanted to get out of here one day. Neither was he someone we knew much of, he joined recently and trust was something that takes years to build.
“And why would he even risk his life for someone that he does not even know of?”
I told him a little of the history of Hogwarts and about that man. But I still cannot see how or why Safar would agree to fight for us.
“Safar is from Iran. He has no connections to anyone, be it political or religious, from Britain. It was confirmed by the Aurors.” She had a point, Safar’s identity was already proven. “And he said that he wants to be a permanent resident of the world of wizardry in Britain, so he will have to get involved one day or the other.”
That…
“And above all, he is skilled in many art forms and I dare say he is better than most of us in this room when it comes to his craft.”
Once again, I could not refute her.
“We need someone like him with us.”
But why… why would he join us so easily? No man would want to risk their life for a place that they had lived at for less than three months.
“And how do you think we can convince someone like him to join?” I had to ask, because with my view, I saw no way for us to get him here.
“Tonks.” But Minerva knew. “Tonks can convince him. He and Tonks seemingly had a close relationship, and while I do not know what they feel for each other —I know that he would at least consider her words.”
Tonks…
She is Mad-Eye’s student and Mad-Eye has been with us for years.
“That…”
That is possible. It is possible to get Nymphadora Tonks to join the Order of the Phoenix, but Safar is still only a possibility.
“I… will think about it “
Think, that’s all I could do as of now. Because bringing a new member was a task to think through.
And because at the moment, there was another issue that I had to look into.
Another chaos, one that Fudge sent me a letter about.
…
…
[Middle of the Night — Azkaban]
{Raymond Vincent}
The most nightmarish of the jobs paid the handsomest. Or so I thought before becoming the front guard of Azkaban.
Money is now something I have in abundance, but neither do I have the time to spend it nor the hope of a future where I will remain sane to spend it.
There were many more jobs, higher paying jobs with lesser risk. So, if one even dreams of becoming a guard at Azkaban for the galleons they dream off, then it is the biggest mistake they can make.
“Protego.”
Even when you are a guard, the dementors are attracted to you. The moment you feel sleepy, the moment you are stressed or upset —they creep up on you and if you are not quick enough, they might leave you scarred enough.
But if you are skilled, a simple protego like this makes them back off real quick.
However, that is only for those that simply stay at the bridge, the aura bridge to guard the entry. For ones like us, in this case me as there are not more human guards, we have to be quick, smart and strong willed every individual second.
“Protego.”
Why? Because I had to go on rounds every three hours to check on the prisoners. And as I said, the dementors are attracted to fear, pain and distraught. And the prisoners? They have an abundance of such feelings.
“Protego.”
Since these dementors go to them every few moments, to torture them and suck on their life force, they also try to nibble on the life of the guards that walk around.
“Protego.”
Hence, the guards are expected to be great with light, protection and holy forms of magic.
“P-Please!”
The more floors you cross, the more dementors —stronger and scarier dementors— you see.
“M-Make it stop…”
Dementors feeding on the prisoners.
“It h-hurts!”
Dementors torturing the prisoners for their sadistic intentions.
“M-Make i-it S-Stop!!!”
And contrary to popular belief, dementors do have a weird sense of feeling and thoughts. They dwell in the pain and sufferings and enjoy them to the fullest.
“Protego.”
These dementors? They especially loved the criminals of the middle floors as these were the ones who had committed crimes enough to be surrounded by many of these dementors and none of them were of the courageous heart that the ones kept in the highest security showed.
So, the dementors of that floor barely had anything to feed on and were the hungriest. So the moment someone new entered that floor —which was the only time those prisoners showed fear and pain— they were haunted by the dementors worse than any other floor as these dementors were the hungriest and the scariest.
“Protego.”
“You look bored, bald dog.”
That voice… I despised that voice.
“Not as bored as you are behind those bars, chained up and fed on by the dementors.” She smiled at my words when most would have been furious.
“But you are no different than us.” This man always had a habit of backing up the darn woman, even if the woman spat at him —he would swallow it up with delight.
“You too are trapped here like us. You may go home once or twice, but still end up here, surrounded by criminals and dementors.”
This… was another man whose presence I loathed. He was the scummiest of them all, playing and toying with the emotions and psyche of others even through the cells.
The two prisoners who were next to him bit their tongue and killed themselves simply because this man’s words were worse than the presence of the dementors for them.
Augustus Rookwood, the one whose tongue was scarier than his magic.
As for the other who followed the woman like a dog? That was Antonin Dolohov.
And of course, the woman…
“Protego!”
Fucking hell, these dementors are extra aggressive today.
They have been too problematic these past few days. Even when Minister West came, these ones caused far too much chaos.
“Careful now, you would not want to end up like those people.”
“Quiet!” No wonder the previous guard claimed to have lost his sanity to get out of this job. These people are impossible to handle.
As for the job? It is a nightmare. You cannot leave it unless you die, grow old enough to not be able to move or go insane.
And I will definitely go insane too if I continue this job.
“Protego!”
Ugh, these gosh darn dementors.
“They seem to love you more than us.”
“Silence, I said!”
But they weren't wrong. These dementors were far too active today. Has one of these prisoners been having depression lately?
“Careful now.” The woman’s voice came from the corner. “Who knows, they might hunt you instead of us.”
As if—
“Ahhhhh!”
Huh?
“What?” I looked around, and there was nothing. But I heard a yell, and it was not of the prisoners. I had heard all of their yells, days and nights, I knew all their screams.
“You should run.” Her voice grew colder as a laugh followed behind. “Because he— hehe, is about to come.”
What is she—
But then it clicked.
I felt cold. I saw the dementors. I realized... something.
“Wait…”
Since the start, I have been forced to use Protego at every step. Never before have I used the spell that many times, why today?
And that worry only grew worse.
“Ahhh!”
As screams on screams followed.
It was from afar, it was not from even inside.
No!
Wait!
The bridge! The guards!
“You—”
But I was late.
As I turned to look at her, I saw something sinister.
A dementor, many a dementors —right in front of my face.
“Protego!” I had to yell, “Protego!”
But it didn't work.
When one dementor moved away, two came forward. And when two moved, six came forward.
“Hehe, everyone that stands in his way, haha… dies…”
No…
This is a setup!
“Good bye, bald guard.”
They all knew of this! All these prisoners!
“But he has finally come to save us.”
“N-No—”
There were too many dementors.
I cannot stop them.
No!
“Unfortunately for you, you will have to die here today.”
No!
“And we… we will be free tonight!”
“Nooooo!”
All I heard was her laughter and all I felt was a cold grip on my heart. And soon, the world turned dark.
Never to see the light again.
…
…
[Hours Earlier — Somewhere in Ayrshire Hills]
“N-No!”
It felt great to see the characters of your story coming to their conclusions on their own. With you just writing a few parts, moving and erasing a few events.
“Back off!”
Humans were simple creatures. Each had a weakness, each had a strength and if you played your cards well enough —the strength and weakness of those people could both be used to your advantage.
“Lord Lucius Abraxas Malfoy, by the order of the Ministry! You are to surrender yourself!”
Lucius, his weakness was his pride and the link with Voldemort.
As for his strength was the wealth and connections he had.
But now, his connections and his wealth were my tools and his weakness was my entertainment.
“You cannot imprison me!” He roared out, almost making me check even from the top of the hill. “I am a lord of the Sacred Twenty-Eight! You have no right to pull your wands in front of me!”
How naive. I would have loved to have another chat with him, a simple talk without being hidden with dark magic like I was now.
But it might not be possible anymore.
“We ask you to lower your wand, Lord Malfoy!” The Aurors asked the man, who funnily enough raised his wand higher instead.
“I have the right to defend myself!”
He was proud, but he knew quite a lot. He was slimy, and he might even wriggle out of this mess —although it is near impossible.
But, just in case—
“Stop!” The Aurors felt it, and so did Lucius as his eyes had gone wide.
“Seize him!”
“N-No!”
I could almost sense his heart stopping as the ominous green light flickered around the tip of his wand as a small orb of green nasty magic formed in front of him.
“HE IS USING DARK ARTS! SEIZE HIM!”
“No! No!!” He yelled, but none listened. “This is not my spell!”
But it was too late, the orb had already shot at one of the Aurors —melting off his face on the spot.
“TAKE HIM DOWN!”
“NOOO!”
And now that is how you make sure that a slimy worm does not wriggle out of your grasp.
“STUPIFY!”
“EXPELLIARMUS!”
Spells upon spells were thrown on the poor lord of House Malfoy, and in front of such skilled Aurors? What could a single man do?
And so fell the lord of Malfoy, on the ground, never to get up again —at least not metaphorically.
As for me? I definitely had to get up. As I had another place to be.
A place by the name of Azkaban.
