Hey, I Ruin Stories Chapter 19

Chapter 19: A Prisoners’ Delivery


[Late Evening — Auror Post, Brighton]


“You seem tired.”


The continuous travels, the late night events and the general lack of sleep was to blame. Magic of Protection got rid of the tiredness that I felt mentally but the body still needed rest.


“I mean I could have gone alone if you wanted some rest.”


“The fresh air is more relaxing than sleeping at this point.” I stretched my arms, “And it's not everyday that you get breaks during the day.”


Aurors had tough work and if I were to do a normal job like being an Auror, I would rather not. Irregular work hours, too much overtime and way too dangerous.


If you want to live a normal life, Auror is not for you.


Even as we walked through the magical hidden streets of Brighton one could find mighty fine jobs to live a normal and comfortable life. Even for wizards it was possible. Shop owners, service providers, housing experts and wizarding insurancers. 


Every normal job you could think of, the wizards had. The only difference was the addition of magic that made it appropriate for the witches and wizards. 


“Was being an Auror always your dream?”


The woman walked besides me, hands in her pockets. 


“I just wanted to make a name for myself.” She wore a nostalgic look, “Life was pretty botched as a child, being constantly ridiculed as being the child of a blood traitor and an escapist. As a child, people with power and authority always intrigued me. I wanted that power and I knew that in almost every case, I would never have power or fame. So I looked for ways by which I could obtain it, even if not at the scale I dreamt of.”


“And it led to you being an Auror?”


“Precisely.” She nodded.


“Do you regret it?”


She looked down, her pace fell slow.


“If I were born in a powerful family, if I was not ridiculed… Then I would have preferred being a simple shop owner somewhere downtown.” She looked at me with a look of surety, “But no, I do not regret being an Auror no matter how difficult it is. It gave me what I always wished for, power and freedom.”


She was motivated, that is for sure.


And as we walked forward, I noticed something weird.


“Hey… Is that man getting attacked?”


And in the far corner, there was a man, writhing around on the ground while three black cloaked men stood next to him. 


“That's Minister West!”


…

…


{Nymphadora Tonks}


“Expelliarmus!”


Minister West was one of the five heads of the council, and also the man that helped me with my Auror training after Madeye.


“Stupefy!”


My Expelliarmus and Darius’ Stupify were strong enough to disarm and disorient the three men even from a distance.


Yet somehow his Stupify felt a little different.


Didn't matter, I had to save Minister West.


“Incarcerous!”


The spell allowed me to bind the three before they could figure out what was happening.


“Are you alright, Minister West?” The man seemed hazed. “It's me, Tonks!”


“He seems to have taken a hit from Mind Arts, maybe a charm.” Darius got down and stared into the man’s eyes. “Do you know any reversal spells?”


“I do, but I am not confident in it.” These types of spells had never been my speciality so it was difficult for me. 


“Fine.” He pulled out his wand and muttered a spell that I didn't know. “Unfringo!”


And in that instant, minister West’s hazy eyes were brought back to his normal brown. His glasses were thick, but I could notice that he had regained his consciousness.


“W-Who are you!” He yelled, preparing to pull out his wand. 


“Minister!” I had to interfere. “It's me, Tonks!”


The man stared, still confused and possibly light headed. 


“Tonks?” He squinted his eyes, “Nymphadora Tonks?”


He was old, much older than the rest but still wanted to work despite being offered a retirement.


“These people are…” Darius seemed conflicted as he looked at the bounded men.


“What's wrong?”


“They are mute.” Huh? Mute wizards?


“They are mute.” Minister West said, “They were using chantless spells, primarily depending on runes.”


The man was not injured, but he was old enough that even a fall would lead to broken bones.


“Are you alright, sir?” He didn't look fine but still the man gave a smile. 


“Thanks to you two, I am.” He tried getting up, but needed help. “Thank you.”


Helping him up, I had to check on the wizards. But as Darius said, they were mute and were only making screeching noises.


“Three mutes who also happen to be wizards…” Darius mused, “Do you think they are hitmen? Like someone paid them to attack him?”


I didn't know about any mute wizard mercenary. But he might have a point, and that was only confirmed as Minister West spoke.


“The underworld is filled with many trained individuals that were bred specially for the nasty work.” He looked at the tied men with great sorrow. “These three too are likely only tools for someone.”


“But why would they attack you?” Darius seemed curious, but the men definitely had reasons to harm him.


“I have a lot of enemies, son.” 


“He is one of the central cabinet ministers of the Ministry of Magic and works directly under Minister Fudge.” The man was a mentor of mine, I had to give him respect where it was due. “He has been incharge of the trade management sector and has busted down on many illegal syndicates and trade Mafia.”


“Alright, I got my answer.” Darius nodded as he greeted Minister West. “It is a pleasure to meet you, sir. I am Darius Safar, a recently made professor of Hogwarts.”


“Quite young for a professor, but I would like to extend my gratitude.” He gave a short bow as well, “I don't even want to imagine what would have happened if you two did not arrive.”


“But how did you get pinned by them, sir?” He was old, but not someone that some thugs could overpower.


“I was ambushed and was attacked from behind.” He sighed as Darius shook his head. 


“And we ambushed them from the corner as well.” He showed an entertained smile, “So, they got what they deserved.”


“Justice prevails, as is in the motto of the Ministry.” Minister West said, “As for these people, I might have to exercise some power as the Minister of Trade to throw them directly into Azkaban. There they might reveal about their ring leader.”


“Should we help, sir?” I had to ask despite knowing that no one except high ranking officials were allowed inside of Azkaban.


“That would be too much for me to ask of you.” He shook his head, “I will take these three on my own.”


“The fact that there were three might mean that there are more.” Darius squatted near the wizards, “It is best if you take us with you minister. Even if it is only till the safe grounds of the prison.”


“Azkaban is forbidden for people outside the ministry.” He said as he looked at Darius. “And it is not safe either. Dementors roam there freely, and you two are young.”


“You know that I am capable, sir.” It hurt when he said it was not safe. “I have faced dementors under your guidance.”


“Skill is something that you can be certain we possess.” Darius too assured. “As for permission, I believe a minister of your rank can handle that.”


The old minister looked at the three criminals and asked, “When are you two free?”


He was willing to let us go with him?


“Whenever you want us to go, sir.” And Darius answered on my behalf.


…

…


[Azkaban, Middle of the North Sea]


It took half an hour to send a raven —yes, he has a raven and not an owl— to inform the others about the event and for us to make a move.


Looking at his dark as the night raven made me consider getting a pet messenger, but it was too much of a hassle. 


That doesn't matter now, what matters is the thing before me.


And by the devil is it massive. 


“Careful, do not sidetrack or you might be swept into the sea.”


To be fair, he did not need to worry because both Tonk and I followed closely behind him. I doubt the water currents would be affected by magic, so best stay on track.


“This aura bridge was built by the combined efforts of a hundred wizards so that the ones traversing the place would not die by the waters.”


Magical architecture at its finest as what we walked over was not a concrete bridge but an invisible solid magical force.


“It's cold.” Tonks rubbed her arms, looking around the pale fog.


“Dementors,” said the old man, “Their presence alone is enough to make a man freeze.”


With that, the old man took out something from his pocket.


“Suckle on this.” What he passed onto us was pieces of chocolate. “It won't repel them but chocolate does reduce the side-effects one gets by being close to a dementor.”


“And how do we counter a dementor if they attack us?” I genuinely wanted to know. I had seen Harry throwing some spells and a few working as well.


“The Patronus charm can work and so does any form of pure and angelic magic.”


Nope, I didn't have either.


“You will have to handle the Patronus issue.” I whispered into Tonk’s ears.


“Still haven't learnt it?” She whispered back.


In my defense, I couldn't. It was physically and magically not possible for me.


“I haven't been here for that long.” I gave the explanation. “Still learning a few things.”


“Weird, I thought that it would be the first thing you would have learnt and taught as a DADA professor.”


“There are more ways to counter the Dark Arts and I just haven't reached the dementors' part to get into the charms and spells for them.”


“Fair, I guess.”


By then, we had reached quite far —already inside the first level and confirming our identities with the one wizard guard. 


“From here on, you will notice a lot of things but pay attention to none.” The old man made sure that we followed. “That involves both dementors and the criminals.”


And that one human guard followed behind, dragging the three wizards by the robe. Previously we were carrying them around with magic, but in Azkaban, usage of magic was limited.


“This is the creepiest place I have been to.”


And I couldn't disagree with what Tonks had said.


We walked through the floors, noticing things that I would have preferred not to notice.


Dementors feeding on to the hopes of the prisoners, most of them going mad and harming themselves —gnashing on their skin and flesh with their years of overgrown nails. Pulling out nails and biting in their fingers till they drew blood.


“Murders and rapists are kept on this floor.” The old man explained, making sure we felt no remorse for the prisoners. “It might look inhumane, but what they did in their time outside has been more inhumane.”


Then we reached the floor of the cannibals who had been kept strictly leashed with metallic chains with dementors sucking on their souls every other second.


We had crossed multiple floors filled with every type of criminal known to man.


“On this floor is where we keep the traitors. The ones who betray the government and join the underground, swear their fealty to the dark arts and dark lords and the ones that want harm on the society built through years of hard work.”


This was also where our criminals would be kept.


“Why do the dementors seem a little weird here?”


Tonks frowned, looking at the dementors roaming around us.


“Don't look at them. They are of a higher level than most as they are specially trained to even handle dark lord followers.”


But no, something was off —something seriously wrong.


“No…” A frown appeared on my face, “It's like… they are drawn to us?”


As I said that, the old man froze and immediately looked around. It was true, the dementors had gathered around us —and it was a lot.


“No!” He yelled, “Take your wands! We had been set up!”


He yelled, pulling out his wand.


“These three have a dark mark! The marks attract dementors!”


But it was already too late.


The dementors had turned offensive —attacking us.


…

…


{Bellatrix Lestrange}


The outside was noisy, rarely noisy. Not the noise of the dementors but shouts —human shouts.


It is not the hour of punishment? Dementors don't feed on the prisoners now.


What is going on?


The chains on my feet made it difficult to walk, but I still strolled over to the corner, trying to get a vision of what was happening outside.


Screeches of dementors alongside that of men mixed with one woman —voices I had not heard before. 


But that noise soon felt quiet, like every noise that grows quiet in this accursed place.


I went back to the dark corner, voices meant nothing in this place. 


However, that only extended to voices of the dementors —the noises.


But the voices of humans were different. They were never heard except for their screams. 


“Finally found you.”


So this voice instantly drew my attention.


“Who?” I asked, turning around violently, looking for that one human face that I had never seen. Faces that I had not seen for a decade.


“Truly, the black family produces the most beautiful women.” The voice laughed, “Because look at you, despite a decade of imprisonment, you still look breathtaking.”


Who? I couldn't see. There was no face, no man… just a voice 


“What are you?” I asked.


It was a trick, and I hated tricks.


“Just a person that is here to help.” The voice said, “You have been here for a decade, but don't worry. You won’t be here for long.”


A sense of hope filled my heart, but I knew it was all false faith.


“Lies.”


“Only the truth.” It said, “He wants me to free you.”


He?


Oh.


My eyes widened, my breath quickened. I knew who he was talking about, I knew who he meant.


“Lord…”


“Yes.” The voice spoke, “In some time, you will be free. Not today, not tomorrow, but soon.”


It promised and for the first time, a promise that felt real. 


He was on behalf of my master, my lord. Of course it was true. Of course I would be free.


“For now, remember that the first man you will meet after you get out of here will be me.” It said, “So, have patience.”


And before I could ask, the voice answered.


“You will know that it is me once you escape.” It said. “Patience, that is all you need.”


I have been here for over ten years, a little more makes no difference.


If… if that means I can meet my lord again.


“For now, make sure that none knows what we talked about. Else… not even he can free you.”


Of course. I could never risk his cause.


And for that, I would remain here.


Till he sees fit.