1Quidditch, Ballycastle Bats, CHASER 2, no prompts—we didn't send them in.
If You Dare Challenge: 38. The Godfather
One Million Words Competition: 2,568 words
Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to the one and only J.K. Rowling. Some of the quotes in this is from the Deathly Hallows, not from me!
Can't Stop Love
It was exhilarating to be out there and fighting. The rush of the flying, and going after the most likely fake Harry Potter. Who knew, maybe he'd have a chance at him if he knocked him unconscious.
He smiled at himself, and flung curses and hexes at them.
Crucio!
Petrificus Totalus!
Nothing enough to kill him, of course. He wanted him to feel the pain—and of course, he wanted the pleasure and enjoyment at the end, the prize for getting him, he supposed. The Dark Lord surely wouldn't mind.
Perhaps he could Imperio him, and not knock him out. Yes, that would be much better. He imagined the Potter boy being his sex slave. He smiled at the thought. Useless thoughts, he knew, for the Dark Lord would probably kill him the moment he knew it was the real Potter.
The Dark Lord had freed some of the Death Eaters from Azkaban, which Travers was of course so grateful for. He had been caught again, but had been freed once more. He was glad to be out.
Glad to be out, to fight for the purebloods, for Merlin knew how disgusting and filthy the muggles and the mudbloods were.
They needed to rid the world of them.
He felt something rushing towards him and turned around to see Kingsley's wand pointed at him, and a hex hit him, as everything went black.
There he was, again in Azkaban. Convicted of Death Eater activity. He laughed. He would soon be out, he knew. The Dark Lord was merciful, and he knew what a loyal Death Eater he was.
He had been in this terrible place so many times, just for the Dark Lord. This place had nearly driven him mad so many times… just for the Dark Lord.
Hell, who knew? Maybe he was mad. No one could tell these days, anyway.
"Yes, m'lord," he replied on his knees, head bent down.
"Now off be with you," his Lord replied, and Travers got up and quickly rushed away to his new post—the Improper Use of Magic Department.
He really couldn't believe the stupidity of the people who chose not to follow the Dark Lord. The Dark Lord was the most powerful wizard of all time—except maybe Albus Dumbledore, but that old geezer was dead.
It was obvious the side that was going to lose was not theirs. But of course, with every victory there must be a smart and well planned plan. Which the Dark Lord had.
Travers knew that he did have one, although he did not tell anyone other than his closest circle. No, he didn't tell his closest inner circle everything. Just some things, things that were necessary to be known.
It was interesting what an introvert the Dark Lord was.
Discarding these thoughts, knowing that the Dark Lord could easily dig into his brain, he Apparated to the Improper Use of Magic Department.
Free was he again. There had been a massive breakout at Azkaban—which had been hushed up by the Ministry. The Ministry, of course, was now almost completely taken over by Death Eaters.
Travers laughed to himself at the thought of 'investigating illegal, but not criminal uses of magic.' What they would be doing was quite illegal and criminal, and here he was, the head of the Department that took care of all that.
What he would be doing was to try his best to find members of the Order and Phoenix and bring them in for questioning. Maybe in find something to capture them. Or just plant something.
He didn't know why they had to take those measures—couldn't they just take them in, confiscate their wands and kill them? But of course, the Dark Lord always had a plan.
Pius Thicknesse was the Minister of Magic. He was being Imperio'd, of course. No one had to know that.
Travers and several other Death Eaters had been cleared of all their charges, right as it should be. What wrong had they done? It was all for the Dark Lord, all the killing.
Killing Muggles and Mudbloods were hardly a sin. In fact, it should be commended and people who didn't do it should be the ones with the charges.
"You clearly can't use magic, I don't understand why you're arguing with me," he snarled at a mudblood witch who was on her knees begging him.
"I'm a witch, sir, I'm a witch, let me prove it to you," she begged, sobbing.
"Why should I let a filthy muggle like you even touch my wand?" he spat on her and walked away.
He heard her sobbing after him, begging him. He felt good when people begged him. It reminded him of his power, and how he could do anything to make someone's lives easier or much harder.
The Potter Boy! He was apparently at the Lovegood house. That lunatic fool, maybe he had a use for once.
"Hurry, Selwyn. We have no time to lose!" he grabbed the other Death Eater and threw him a broomstick, grabbing his own.
They flew to the Lovegood house as fast as they could, Travers in the lead. "Hurry up, you fool! Harry Potter might be there!"
They came into the view of the Lovegood house, just to see it explode.
Travers landed and ran towards the door, kicking it open. He looked around to see… old Xenophilius Lovegood on the ground, but nothing more.
"Didn't I tell you there was no need to hurry, Travers? Didn't I tell you this nutter was just raving as usual?" Selwyn snarled at him, taking his wand and crucioing Lovegood.
"No … no … upstairs … Potter!" he gasped.
"I told you last week, Lovegood, weren't coming back for anything less than some solid information! Remember last week? When you wanted to swap your daughter for that stupid bleeding headdress? And the week before—" Selwyn paused, throwing a hex at him. "—when you thought we'd give her back if you offered us proof there are Crumple—" another hex, another scream. "—Headed—" Crucio once again. "—Snorcacks?"
"No – no – I beg you!" Lovegood sobbed.
Meanwhile, Travers was inspecting the area. Why had the explosion occurred?
"And now it turns out you only called us here to try and blow us up!" Selwyn roared, muttering a series of hexes and curses, followed by Lovegood's sobs and screams.
He doubted that. "The place looks like it's about to fall in, Selwyn. The stairs are completely blocked. Could try clearing it? Might bring the place down," he said, looking around.
"You lying piece of filth! You've never seen Potter in your life, have you? Thought you'd lure us here to kill us, did you? And you think you'll get your girl back like this?" Selwyn thundered.
"I swear … I swear … Potter's upstairs!" Lovegood gasped.
Lovegood might be crazy, but he wouldn't lie for something that had his daughter's life on it.
"Homenum revelio," he muttered. "There's someone up there all right, Selwyn," he said sharply.
"It's Potter, I tell you, it's Potter!" Lovegood sobbed. "Please … please … give me Luna, just let me have Luna…"
"You can have your little girl, Lovegood, if you get up those stairs and bring me down Harry Potter. But I this is a plot, if it's a trick, if you've got an accomplice waiting up there to ambush us, we'll se if we can spare a bit of your daughter for you to bury." Selwyn snarled.
Lovegood crawled to the stairs, trying to clear the debris with his hands. Knowing that that wouldn't work, he used the Hover Charm to move the debris away.
He worked his way up, until suddenly everything came coming down, along with the Potter boy and the Mudblood!
They ran for their dear lives, trying to make sure the furniture from the upstairs floor did not come falling down on them.
Travers turned around, desperate to see them once more, but they disappeared from view.
"You are convicted of having a wand, when really you have no magic! Who did you steal this wand from?" he snarled at the filthy Mudblood.
"No! Please, let me prove it to you! I do have magic, I swear! Please!" the man begged.
"No! There is nothing more to prove!" he hissed.
The man screamed as he was taken away.
Apparently Potter, the Mudblood, and Weasley had been captured and had been in Malfoy Manor. They had even summoned the Dark Lord, but the three, along with the other prisoners, had escaped before the Dark Lord could arrive.
He laughed at the misery of Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy, and also for Bellatrix Lestrange, who had been the one who had called him in the first place.
If the other Death Eaters went down, that meant that someone had to go up, and that could be him one day. It improved the chances.
They were now apparently confined to Malfoy Manor.
He smiled, thinking back to the days when he'd been the renowned murderer of the McKinnon's. The filthy blood traitor family. Marlene McKinnon had been so pretty—he loved to imagine Sirius Black's expression when she had died.
She had been the love of his life, after all.
Maybe he could use that against Potter. Sirius Black was the godfather of him after all, even if he was dead.
He had been taking a nice little walk to Gringotts when he stumbled upon Bellatrix Lestrange.
"Why, Madam Lestrange!" he called.
"And what do you want?" she said with contempt in her voice.
"I merely sought to greet you… but if my presence is not welcome…" he trailed off.
"No, no, not at all, Travers," Bellatrix said, to his surprise. "How are you?"
"Well, I confess I am surprised to see you out and about, Bellatrix," he smirked at her.
"Really? Why?" she raised her chin.
"Well, I heard that the inhabitants of Malfoy Manor were confined to the house, after the…" he trailed off. "ah… escape."
She scoffed. "The Dark Lord forgives those who have served him most faithfully in the past. Perhaps your credit is not as good with him as mine is, Travers," she said, looking disdainfully down at him.
It was a Bellatrix thing to say. "How did it offend you?"
"It does not matter, it will not do so again," she replied.
"Some of these Wandless can be troublesome," he said comfortably. "While they do nothing but beg I have no objection, but one of them actually asked me to plead her case at the Ministry last week. 'I'm a witch sir, I'm a witch, let me prove it to you!' As if I was going to give her my wand – but whose wand are you using at the moment, Bellatrix? I heard that your own was—" another test, of course, but he was interrupted.
"I have my wand here," Bellatrix said coldly, holding it up for him to see. "I don't know what rumours you have been listening to, Travers, but you seem sadly misinformed."
The rest of it was a blur of memories, from welcoming Bellatrix's… friend from Transylvania, whom he disliked at first sight, to taking her into Gringotts, then… everything went black and he couldn't remember a single thing.
He felt the Dark Lord calling him. He winced in anticipation of the pain to come. He had to be tortured for not knowing that the Bellatrix he had met earlier had not truly been the real Bellatrix.
He had had his suspicions, but didn't truly think it later on.
"Yes, m'lord," he replied, bent on his knees with his head bowed down.
The Dark Lord pointed his wand at him and Travers bit his mouth as not to scream when the shock of the Crucio spell went through him.
He endured this until he was numb, and at the end, he bowed his head and apologized numerously to the Dark Lord.
"I expect you to be at the battle," the Dark Lord said, talking about the big battle to come.
"Of course," he replied.
"You are convicted of having a wand in possession when you can not do magic," he sneered down at the tiny woman.
She was silent.
He felt a wave of anger. Everyone ever convicted by him had begged him to let them show him that they could do magic. Yet this one didn't say anything, and didn't even have a reaction.
Then suddenly, she spoke. "So what? Do you think that if you take away our wands, our magic will go away? Do you think that it will change who we are? No, it will not. We still have magic in our blood, and we always will. Do you think that if you try to silence us in this manner, muggleborns will stop being born? Do you think that people will stop falling in love, whether it's with a pureblood, a halfblood, a muggleborn, or a muggle? It won't, you know. All your efforts are in vain, for you can not stop love, and you can not stop birth."
"Take her away," he snarled at the guards, and they proceeded to take her away.
She walked freely, and he couldn't help but be shaken at what she had said.
He felt the Dark Lord call him. He felt a shiver go up his spine, and knew that it was here. It was the battle that they had all been awaiting.
He smiled, and quickly Apparated to the spot where the Dark Lord had called upon him and the others.
There were hundreds there with them. The Dark Lord shot his first hex, and everyone shouted and laughed as they followed, breaking the barrier that protected Hogwarts.
The barrier started to crack, and he smiled. The power of all them together was surely enough to overcome the Order of Phoenix.
The barrier broke and everyone surged forward.
He surged forward, at the front of the group; he wanted to get the most kills—he wanted that honour.
He saw terrified students everywhere, but he also saw skilled wizards and witches with a solid resolve on their faces—they might die, but they would die protecting what they wanted most.
What the mudblood witch had said to him before came across his thoughts, and he quickly brushed it away. It didn't matter.
He threw hexes at two students who he guessed were in their last year at Hogwarts… not a part of the Order of Phoenix—they were too young, but probably part of the group that he had heard were making the Carrows' teaching career at Hogwarts a living hell.
Dumbledore's Army, he heard they called themselves?
It didn't matter. They were on the wrong side, and they were going to die. He felt himself laughing as he shot curses and hexes at them. He was fighting to die.
It didn't matter. He was fighting for what he wanted too.
Dolohov was beside him, shooting hexes and curses at them and every often hiding behind some debris.
Travers, on the other hand didn't bother. He was probably going to die anyway, so he might as well do it gallantly.
Who needed to hide when you could just attack?
He felt a hex hit him, and he felt himself fall to the ground.
All your efforts are in vain, for you can not stop love, and you can not stop birth.
A/N: I'm sorry that was a terribly useless fic.