Chapter Text
THE BURN OF BIRCH HOLLOW
(Somewhere in Wales, Winter, 1980)
An eerie silence hung in the air like a noose waiting to tighten. The oily sky cast a dark shadow over the suburban environment like a thick backdrop that only seemed to add to the tension the team felt as they moved smoothly across the street and up the lawn. The snow lightly crunching beneath their boots.
Silent hand motions indicated different members to their positions, finding vantage points at the entry ways and defending the escape routes. Three people prepared at the front door. A wand raised towards the wood as a silent spell crawled up the wizard’s throat.
…
BOOM!!
The door exploded outwards violently, splinters punching into the nearest wizard like makeshift daggers. The other two mages were quick enough to throw a shield spell in front of themselves, blocking the shrapnel even as their comrade fell to the ground choking on his own blood and gasping for air.
⮞ MINISTRY FIELD REPORT — BURCH HOLLOW ENGAGEMENT ⮜
[0130 HRS] — Assault Unit STRIKE-1 initiated contact with primary structure.
[0130 HRS] — STRIKE-1 sustained critical casualty; evac completed by STRIKE 1-9.
[0131 HRS] — Coordinated breach executed at Front Entry (STRIKE-1) and Rear Entry (STRIKE-2) positions.
A fourth member scurried over and grabbed the wounded mage by his collar and dragged him away from the blood-soaked porch as a fifth replaced him, immediately casting a nasty looking spell through the doorway. The faint crunch and thud indicating it had found its intended target.
“Go go! Breach!”
Spellfire rained down like hellfire through the doorway from several different angles. Blues, greens, reds, violets. There was no time to identify which spell was what, nor where it came from. The only response was a barrage of your own and hoping you hit something.
“Push through the funnel!” Another explosion rocks the house but this time deeper in. The backdoor had been exploded open and the dark suburbia became a violent orchestra of rainbow warfare and furniture shattering as they were used for protection.
Both teams tried to push into the house but the assaults were too heavy and no progress could be made. The vests they wore to protect against spells weren’t going to last against coordinated hexes and curses. “Send them in now! Activate Sigil Team!”
Heavy, metallic footsteps stomped across the snow covered lawn and towards the front door without a care for the nightmare of spells coming through.
“Back! Back!” The assault team pulled away from the door under cover of their own attacks and shields as a titanic figure stomped through the doorway.
The spellfire paused for barely a breath before a harsh scream echoed through the dark night. “JUDICATORS!” Then it resumed with prejudice. Spells exploded and splashed against the runic armor covering the Judicator as it moved forward and grabbed the nearest wizard by the throat.
⮞ MINISTRY REPORT - BURCH HOLLOW RAID ⮜
[0132 HRS] — ENFORCER 0-1 “PREACHER” breached primary threshold.
[0133 HRS] — Subject J. Fletchling — STATUS: PACIFIED [FATAL]
[0133 HRS] — Artifact Reclamation: WAND CORE NEUTRALIZED — [CONFIRMED]
Crunch.
The body dropped to the floor with a brutal thud. Its neck twisted with a mix of black and blue hues as their snapped wand rolled across the floor in two pieces.
The Judicator stepped over the body with a cold indifference, arm raised as it cast a disintegration hex at the next suspect, hitting them square in the sternum. Blood pooling to the ground as it cuts through the outer layer of clothing and then the bone beneath.
A second figure, this one shorter and leaner than the first, stepped through the doorway after it. Ducking and weaving beneath the spellfire as a blade stuck out from its wrist as it ran towards the other side of the house.
⮞ MINISTRY REPORT - BURCH HOLLOW RAID ⮜
[0133 HRS] — SEEKER 3-2 “DOGMA” engaged multiple targets — 2x PACIFIED [FATAL]
[0133 HRS] — STRIKE-2 breach successful — minor injuries reported.
[0134 HRS] — SANCTUM stabilized wounded.
A scream was buried beneath the chaos as one mage took an exploding hex to their leg, blowing away the meat beneath the knee. They steadied themselves against the nearest wall and quickly cast charms to cauterize the wound as their team pushed past them and into the safehouse. “Medi-Mage! Get Corrathin!” Even as the blood had already soaked the floorboards.
Ears rang from the endless barrage of explosive ordnance thrown at the hulking figure as it bore down another mage and kicked them into a nearby wall. A hole was left in the brick as they slumped down to the ground, blood pooling beneath their feet.
“FOR THE DARK LORD!”
A single voice screamed out as one wizard rushed forward and tackled the hulking beast right as an explosion ripped through their body. Both the wizard and “PREACHER” exploded in a violent and gory mess that splattered across the walls like a thick coating of paint.
⮞ MINISTRY REPORT - BURCH HOLLOW RAID ⮜
[0136 HRS] — Subject T. Canis — STATUS: PACIFIED [FATAL]
[0136 HRS] — Subject O. Hazel — STATUS: SELF-INFLICTED HEX (BLIGHT) [FATAL]
[0136 HRS] — ENFORCER 0-1 “PREACHER” — STATUS: DECOMMISSIONED
The shockwave of the explosion rushed through the house like an angry wraith, nearly knocking two wizards off their feet. They barely had time to react before the blood soaked room began to fill with a sickly green gas.
“BLIGHT! BLIGHT! MASKS!” One screamed out as loudly as they could, fumbling for the mask on their waist. Their comrade hadn’t been so quick to react and his skin began to blister then bubble as the noxious curse dug into his skin and bones. Blood poured from his mouth as his eyeballs became a deep crimson.
A thud fills the room as he falls to his knees and then faceplants into the floor. He had died standing.
⮞ MINISTRY REPORT - BURCH HOLLOW RAID ⮜
[0136 HRS] — AUROR R. Wolf — STATUS: DECEASED
The rest of the safehouse fell quickly after that.
Seeker 3-2 “DOGMA” dove forward into the nearest Death Eater, digging the blade into their stomach to gut them. Driving upwards through the lungs and ribs, then out through the collarbone. Screams filled its sensors but it ignored them as it slashed through the throat to expose bone and muscle. Blood coating its armor plating like camouflage.
⮞ MINISTRY REPORT - BURCH HOLLOW RAID ⮜
[0136 HRS] — Subject L. Everglade — STATUS: PACIFIED [FATAL]
Two remained. They quickly threw down their wands and began pleading for their lives. Two grown adults had been reduced to nothing but whimpering children with the sight of the carnage that had been brought down upon them. As if the Grim Reaper had kicked in their door with the sole intention of brutalizing everything inside just for the sick, twisted pleasure of mutilating warm bodies into bloodied shreds.
Two Aurors worked to contain the blight as a third quickly sent word back to Command for a DECON Team.
“Bigsly, Herdrow, get on the street! Now! We need to set up a containment five kilometers on all sides until the obliviators get here! Get Echo Team and get it done!”
The rest of the night was silent and calm. Peaceful. In the muggle world, there would be no news of this incident. None of them would know they had been inches from one of the deadliest raids in the Great Wizarding War.
And in the Daily Prophet? There was a short blurb of a successful capture regarding two Death Eaters on the ninth page. Commendations for the survivors, payments for the families of the deceased. Barely a footnote for anyone who hadn’t been there.
Just another battle lost to history for all, except those too scarred to forget.