Categories > Books > Harry Potter > Lord and Lady Baron Potter
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the HP characters.
A/N: Horror and death is coming up. If you do not like that, skip this chapter.
A/N: Beta Minante did an excellent job, because this chapter was very hard. This chapter has not much of a story line and a lot of pointless killing. Thank you Minante.
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It was 5:15 in France on the Île de la Cité, a small island in the middle of the Seine. On that small island the Notre Dame was located, as well as the Gothic La Sainte-Chapelle of Louis XI and the Palais de Justice. The Notre Dame was an old religious monument, built in 1163 AD during the reign of Louis VII and, up until this day, it was the center attraction of the many tourists who came visiting Paris, France's capital city.
For more then 800 years, the church showed the world its full glory and at 5:15 am, the 28th of August, it continued to do that ... until ... now.
The Notre Dame began to shake and a low, deep rumble could be heard coming from underneath the huge church. Stones from the building started to fall. The rumble became louder ... and the vibration started to reach the level of an earthquake.
An enormous explosion, originating from the Notre Dame, blasted straight into the morning sky of Paris. It threw big chunks of stone and debris high up in the air, and smoke began rising from the site. The once proud island was now reduced into a wreck; a place of destruction... a hole in the ground stood in place of the Notre Dame.
At 5:17, people living and working around the Île de la Cité came out of their houses, their workplaces, the cafés, bars and offices to see what was going on ... all of them had heard the loud explosion only a few hundred meters away ... too paralyzed to panic , unable to feel anything other than shock. At that exact moment, a thousand tons of debris and stone came crashing down from the sky after previously blown upwards by the enormous explosion that destroyed the Notre Dame. At 5:18 about 3,600 people had died instantaneously due to the heavy impact of rubble and it reduced the area to a burning inferno.
The water in the Seine had evaporated because of the intense heat and all buildings on the old island were flattened hundreds of meters in all directions. At 5:25, a serene quietness came over the disaster area ... here and there you could hear the noise of stones falling down, of fire, and a low rumble coming from beneath the earth. A thick, poisoned green-gray cloud of smoke was rising from the devastation, fed by the deep hole where once the Notre Dame stood.
Throughout the wreckage, sharp shrieking began to emerge ... shrill sounds that could not originate from a human voice ... from any voice at all! The sounds were indescribable, horrifying and paralyzing everything within its reach. Few were able to look through the thick smoke to see faint movements and dimmed flashes of grayish light. Everyone could hear the low penetrating wail... the wail that traveled over the wounded city... foreboding of that to come, a devilish horror... a soul-wrecking demolition.
At 5:29, the authorities were reacting to the catastrophe and the first rescue units were hastened towards the disaster area. Wailing sirens could be heard approaching the Île de la Cité from all sides and hospitals were preparing themselves for the expected stream of wounded civilians. Helicopters and airplanes were launched from the surrounding airports and flew to the area.
When the first fire engine reached the border of the site, its engine stopped working. The firemen were confused; not understanding what was going on ... the engines shutting down was impossible. What was worse, they could not assist the rescue workers ... now they needed to be rescued themselves! The chief of the firefighter crew was not a happy man ... without equipment they could do nothing. When the firemen tried to contact headquarters, they also found that they could not communicate with anyone ... the telephones and radio were not working as well as the engine, nothing was! The only thing that the crew noticed was the approaching dirty-yellow mist, the strange piercing wail and the forthcoming coldness. The temperature dropped at least 20 degrees.
The chief's eyes went wide ... the coldness froze his limbs ... he could not move ... only able to stare into the mist and listen to the wailing that was getting louder. The feeling of fast-approaching doom became stronger. Two colleagues were standing between him and the traveling mist; he could see their terrified faces ... the men also seemed unable to move. Then he thought he heard something ... both his co-workers shrunk ... no ... it ... they were torn to pieces!
"Oh my god, have mercy on my soul!"
That was the last thing he could say before his being was pulled from his body. Finally he saw what was responsible for all the carnage.
At the same time that the chief of the fire brigade lost his soul to the demon, two helicopters were approaching the disaster area and promptly crashed. Boulevard Richard Lenoir, where over a thousand people lived, suffered enormous fire and explosive damage from this.
The airplane, which was following the helicopters, immediately reported the additional problem before the radio connection was broken and it crashed straight into the large train station Gar de Nord, killing a thousand people instantaneously.
At 5:55, a deep, unearthly wailing could be heard at Bourse de Commerce, opposite the Rue du Louvre. The sound was deafening, nowhere within its reach was safe. The wailing was soon to be followed by a translucent mist ... shielding buildings, roads, parks ... everything. Whatever the mist was covering, it left absolute devastation behind it.
The same wailing could be heard in the south of Paris at St. Germain de Pres, which was also covered in the dirty-yellow mist and ruined. In the west, the Eiffel tower was enclosed in the mist and in the east, La Bastille was obliterated.
At Ecole Militaire, the French military school near the Eiffel Tower, there stood a small group of ten uniformed people looking horrorstricken to the approaching mist.
"Platoon, in formation!" A young captain ordered in a loud voice. The nine others, who were all soldiers, hastily started to group themselves in a double line, and all appeared weary. They took their guns and directed it to the mist.
"FIRE!" The captain screamed.
Nine guns went off before the mist reached them and their souls were taken. Their bodies were torn apart ... their limbs were scattered, their insides eaten and blood was splattered all around.
The dirty yellow mist continued to cover the area surrounding the Eiffel Tower, the buildings of Ecole Militaire, the Hotel des Invalides... all were transformed into tombs. The 3,500 people, who were trying to hide, faced death ... their bodies reduced to half-eaten pulp.
Pierre Gateau was the head Auror of the France Ministry of Magic. He and a 120 other Aurors were standing in the park Jardin Villemin, near the train station Gare de l'Est. They saw the yellow-greenish mist approaching and became very uneasy. The feeling of coldness overwhelmed them.
"Aurors, the Patronus Charm on my command!" Pierre said loudly while holding his arm up. The Aurors prepared themselves for the onslaught. Pierre's arm came down and pointed to the approaching mist. "Fire!" He commanded. Ninety-seven Patronuses were cast and headed towards the mist ... and flew through it ... with no effect.
The mist had reached them now and they were all covered. The environment immediately changed. The Aurors were instantly aware that they could not see the sun anymore ... only shadowy forms moving right outside their vision. All sounds were severely reduced to faint echoes, voices from other Aurors sounding like slow-playing tape recorders of whose batteries were almost dead.
There was a smell ... the smell of rot and decay. The Aurors moved slowly in formation further into the mist. Nothing seemed to move fast, there was no direct danger coming their way ... yet.
One of the Aurors tripped and fell on his knees ... and screamed in horror. He had slipped because the head of a little girl with long, blond hair had been in his path... the eyes were gone and the back of her head was eaten away. The Auror, staring at what was left of the girl, threw up.
The ground upon which they were walking was covered in a red muddy slime. When they looked more carefully, they discovered that the slime was nothing other then blood, crushed body parts and half-devoured human limbs. They even saw the body parts of dogs and cats.
All Aurors seem to freeze at same time, having heard the ever-present unearthly wailing that was rapidly increasing in volume. Something was approaching them ... Pierre Gateau ordered his Aurors in a ring position, so that they could defend themselves from all directions and that was a fatal mistake. Suddenly a creature appeared from nowhere, slashing apart the closest Aurors it could find and twenty lost their lives. The rest turned towards the creature, which moved extremely fast, and fired the first curses. Because of the formation chosen, many other at the opposite side of opposite side of the ring were hit and killed instantly.
Pierre Gateau screamed at them to regroup but it was already too late. The vicious creature, the demon, was already decimating the rest of the Aurors. The ten survivors who managed to regroup pointed their wands towards the demon and fired curses designed against dark creatures, like demons. The problem with those curses was that they were intended for the lower-level ones and were ineffectual against the seventh level demons.
Five more Aurors went down and Pierre Gateau made a decision, which saved at least three lives. He activated their Portkeys and told them to report to the ministry that the mission had failed. Pierre Gateau cast the killing curse at the demon but it had no effect, before he and another were killed as well.
At 8:56, all major roads exiting Paris were packed with cars, busses, trucks and streaming masses of screaming and panicking people who were desperately trying to escape the carnage and the mysterious mist approaching. At the time, the major networks in France, Europe and all over the world were presenting the disaster live on television. Billions of people were horrified, watching their television sets and the sickening live view of Paris' destruction that spread by the minute ... the streets were red by the blood of a million people dead ... body parts everywhere visible on the television screens.
The latest news was that all the patients of the five huge hospitals were slaughtered. In the south of the Jardin du Luxenbourg the five major hospitals were located: St. Vincent de Paul, Martenite Port Royal, Cochin, Val de Grace and Institut Curie. All surviving patients were being evacuated into the awaiting ambulances, trucks, and busses by members of the French army. The action, reported live by all major news organizations, was viewed by millions ... no billions of people all over the world who sat clustered around the television sets watching the desperate attempt to save the people. Everything went smoothly until the dirty yellow mist reached the first busses of people to be transported away, who screamed in revulsion and terror. Some of them tried to leave the busses ... but they were massacred right in front of the cameras, which sent the pictures straight to the satellites that circled the earth many kilometers away in space.
After one minute, the total area where almost 10,000 people were packed together - patients, civilians and soldiers alike - was destroyed. Every square centimeter of surface was red with blood and bodies were everywhere. A majority of the viewers felt sick. The TV signal was interrupted and the news from the Paris disaster area was stopped.
At 11:15, large streams of refugees evacuating Paris were spreading throughout the country, escaping the horror and death. All airports were overloaded with people who wanted to leave France and attempted to take the last airplanes available. Mass panic broke out at the Charles de Gaule airport and many people died during the stampede, disrupting the traffic from that point on.
Countries surrounding France became increasingly nervous. Nobody had any idea what the problem was in Paris. Was it a disease, was it invasions of invisible creatures like so many people were saying, or was it a secret military weapon on a rampage? The Heads of State in Belgium, Germany, Switzerland and Italy were ordering their military troops to close the French borders.
At 13:00, the France President Charles du Pont was in an emergency meeting with his military commanders and his cabinet.
President Charles du Pont stood up from his chair and turned to his Commander-in-Chief, General-Major Guillome Masseile. "Can you give us an update about the situation, Guillome?"
General-Major Guillome Masseile also stood and addressed the meeting room: "Of course I can, Mr. President. The situation is as follows: about 5 o'clock this morning a big explosion occurred under the Notre Dame. The church and the island Île de la Cité was totally destroyed. Right after the explosion, debris fell on the north and south bank, destroying all properties in the afflicted areas. All civilians are assumed dead. From that moment, a yellow-greenish mist appeared from the epicenter of the explosion which quickly spread throughout Paris. Everywhere that the mist touched ... everything what was alive died in a terrible way; the bodies of the victims were torn apart.
We did not unleash this phenomenon and we do not know what it is. Whatever it may be, it acts as if a biological weapon; it spreads like an infection in the body. The stories we hear in the press about invisible creatures from space are unlikely to be the truth. It is more probable that this is an act of terrorism but no terrorists have laid claim and even they would be unable to cope with the destruction here. It is still a possibility. This is also not due to a foreign army, I do not think it is human, but whatever it is I truly do not know. The closest possible match to this disaster is from a biological weapon of some sort."
General-Major Guillome Masseile pointed to a map on the wall. They saw it to be of Paris and the surrounding cities. "As you can see on the map, there are four circles drawn. Starting with the first circle in the red color, that is the area of the explosion. The area is destroyed. The second is in a yellow color and that was the position of the mist about 5 minutes ago. The third circle in blue is the area which is most likely to be covered within one hour and the last in brown is where the mist is likely to occupy within six hours .The last area covers Paris and its satellite cities. We estimate that the mist has cost about 3.6 million people their lives so far.
We have no way to stop the phenomenon because we do not know what it is. We also do not have time to study it because it grows too fast. The only thing that is certain is that it is spreading slower as it must cover a larger area then before but our calculations have restrictions.
If we are not able to stop this, and we do not have a reason to assume that it will stop by itself, it will destroy France, all countries surrounding France, all of Europe and Asia. Whatever it is, it is a global issue. We have no idea what it is and we also do not have any idea how to fight it. In addition, there are no survivors; the mist is covering the full area from the epicenter outwards and nothing is alive in that mist. Thank you, gentlemen."
The General-Major sat down in his chair.
The president turned to a man who was dressed in dark robes, and looked at him pointedly. The man slowly shook his head. "What we know," he said slowly, "is nothing can be done. More than a hundred of our kind tru to stop it but we were destroyed within a minute."
The president knew that the man was the member of the hidden ministry, the Ministry of Magic in France, and if they were unable to do something against it with their magic, then what could he do?
There was a shocked silence when nobody moved. A telephone rang and the president answered it automatically. He was listening intently ... his face like stone ... and slowly closed the connection.
"On highway 2 Paris to Charles de Gaule was a stream of about 700,000 refugees ... they were all killed ... no one is alive. A Mirage 2000 jet crashed near the site but was still able to send images of the carnage towards its base.
He looked up to his advisors. "Are there any ideas here, gentlemen?"
A colonel with a huge moustache stood up. "Colonel Frederick Renoir, Mr. President. I think we need to bomb Paris with one or more nuclear weapons, Sir. That is the only way to destroy everything within the city and this phenomenon as well. Thank you Sir." Colonel Frederick Renoir sat down.
General-Major Guillome Masseile stood up. "I think that is the only logical and accurate response we have had up till now and there is about..." he looked at his watch, "say 30 minutes to decide and it will take15 minutes to launch three bombs, otherwise it might escape, continue its rampage and become unstoppable. I also think that it should be the only change we have because after the phenomenon is unstoppable, even if we decide to use nuclear weapons, the infected area would be too wide to be effective."
"But we will destroy our capital city, Guillome! How could you say that? In addition, what about all those people dying then? We will kill them all!" Another General-Lieutenant said.
"We lost Paris already; many died, many are dying and many will die. If we do nothing, I am sure that America will launch a nuclear assault to protect the rest of the world and themselves from utter destruction." General-Major Guillome Masseile replied.
"Did we investigate what exactly happened with a victim of the mist?" Colonel Frederick Renoir asked.
"Yes, we did all we could. When the mist reaches the victim, the victim seems to spasm, then the limbs are torn from his corpse. In many cases, the corpse will be torn up as well, but not always. The head is always the first to be torn from the body." The General-Major answered.
The president sighed and looked to the situation map on the wall. Everyone was quiet ... the final decision was his to make. The silence in the situation room extended to ten minutes until the president stood up. He looked old and weary. "It has to be done. Inform the allied countries, prepare one nuclear bomb of 1.5 megaton and launch it on Paris. When we are ready for launch, I will give the final activation codes."
At 14:05, the French president was standing in front of the situation map with both hands behind his back. He gave the order and fed the computers the actuation codes. It would take at least ten minutes before the bomb would be detonated and his life ended. The headquarters of the French army were straight under the Place de la Nation, southeast of the old Île de la Cité. When the bomb detonates, he would perish like everyone else in the city. The room was empty, only he was in the room; everyone was being evacuated, except him. The decision to destroy Paris would be his last because it was, for him, impossible to live with that. His vice-president was informed, his wife and children were safely taken care of and all business was in order, waiting for the end.
He knew that France would be destroyed. The majority of the French population lived in Paris. He only hoped that he could save the rest from the approaching death and that France would recover from the onslaught in future years.
Suddenly he heard a noise behind him. He slowly turned and saw his colleague, the Minister of Magic in France. "What are you doing here, Bernard?" The president asked.
Bernard looked thoughtfully to the president. "I am doing the same as you, Charles. I am waiting for the end to come."
The president looked somberly at the Minister of Magic. "Do you want to die as well, Bernard?"
"I don't want to die, Charles. Certain decisions in life must be made and some of them I cannot live with. I personally agree with what you are doing and for me it is fine to sit with you till the end. Should I escape like the rest, I would not be able to live with this. I will join you in the last minutes of our existence. So, do you have any last words before everything is over?"
The president looked thoughtfully for a moment. "Nothing comes to my mind, Bernard. What about we play a game of chess? Do you still have that Wizarding chess set with you?"
The Minister of Magic smiled sadly. "That is a good idea, Charles. Let's play."
At 14:15, a nuclear bomb was dropped and detonated in Paris, obliterating everything within the range of 25 kilometers and leaving a huge crater behind. Millions of people perished in less then a microsecond and more were dying in the shockwaves, the fallout of the bomb. The mist was gone.
The French Ministry of Magic, which was located under Gare d'Austerlitz, was gone as well.
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Arthur Weasley sat with the Heads of Department of the Ministry of Magic, England, in a meeting with Minister Bones. Everyone was shocked into silence from the facts of the disaster happening at that same moment.
Dirk Cresswell, who was before the Head of the Goblin Liaison Office and now was the Head of the International Magical Office of Law, took the stage. "So let's summarize the facts. Minister, you wish to tell us that four demons were causing havoc in Paris, killing millions of Muggles in hardly one morning and the French Muggle government destroyed Paris with one ... what did you call it?"
"Bomb." Madame Bones, the acting minister said.
"That is right, a bomb. So that Muggle government killed millions extra only to kill the demons?"
Madame Bones looked wearily to her department heads. "I think I understand the reasoning behind that decision. If the Muggles had not dropped the bomb, the killing would continue and spread over the whole of Europe... the death toll would be uncountable and don't forget that many witches and wizards would perish as well."
"Are at least the demons gone?" Dirk Cresswell asked.
"We assume they are gone because that bomb produced heat higher in temperature then the sun and everything in the epicenter of the explosion has evaporated. We cannot go look because the temperature is still too high and there is radiation around the impact which kills all creatures immediately. What is it called, Arthur?"
Arthur Weasley stood up and addressed the group. "It is called radioactive radiation and will kill anything alive. The radiation will stay there for many years to come. After the bomb was detonated, it exploded like a miniature sun. It is extremely hot and burns everything while exploding. The detonation causes an implosion followed immediately by an explosion, in other words, a shockwave, which blasts through everything.
Then it will unleash two things ... an enormous cloud in the shape of a mushroom which is kilometers high, possibly reaching as high as the stratosphere and a cloud of radiation, which kills indirectly as well. This cloud is being spread now by the wind, and everything within its reach will be infected by radiation poison, they will die shortly in a terrible way. We are lucky here, because that wind is blowing the cloud eastwards, that means Switzerland and north Italy."
"Do those Muggles have such a power that they can destroy cities?" asked Belabor Catcher, the department head of Magical Games.
"Yes they have." Arthur Weasley continued. "They have many methods for mass destruction and that bomb is only one way. And the bomb they have used on Paris is not the most powerful they have."
"Could we not use such bomb on the demon gate in South America?"
"I think that is a good idea to consider, Minister. Because Paris only had to deal with four demons, we now expect 666 more demons to come."
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Ha'alem arrived alone at the demon Gate. It had lost his three other demons in something it did not understand. They were normally eating those creatures and suddenly there was a flash and suns exploded right in the area they were eating. Ha'alem was lucky because he did not get a direct hit, but for the first time in its existence, it experienced a feeling of ... fear.
Ha'alem did not care for his three demon brothers, because it knew that its brothers would recover in their dimension. The physical bodies and all the souls collected over the millennia were lost though. Only Ha'alem had survived.
Ha'alem was truly impressed by the explosion; it assumed that those creatures were responsible for the burning sun which killed the bodies of his three brothers. He barely escaped. If those creatures had succeeded in killing the bodies of all of them, Ha'alem included, they would not be able to access this world any longer because no operative would assist in arranging the connection with his universe.
Ha'alem made the decision not to go out to a rampage anymore, unless he and his brothers in full strength could return and take what was theirs. He also started to prepare to move the demon gate to another location because it knew that those damned creatures knew where the previous demon gate was located.
A/N: Horror and death is coming up. If you do not like that, skip this chapter.
A/N: Beta Minante did an excellent job, because this chapter was very hard. This chapter has not much of a story line and a lot of pointless killing. Thank you Minante.
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It was 5:15 in France on the Île de la Cité, a small island in the middle of the Seine. On that small island the Notre Dame was located, as well as the Gothic La Sainte-Chapelle of Louis XI and the Palais de Justice. The Notre Dame was an old religious monument, built in 1163 AD during the reign of Louis VII and, up until this day, it was the center attraction of the many tourists who came visiting Paris, France's capital city.
For more then 800 years, the church showed the world its full glory and at 5:15 am, the 28th of August, it continued to do that ... until ... now.
The Notre Dame began to shake and a low, deep rumble could be heard coming from underneath the huge church. Stones from the building started to fall. The rumble became louder ... and the vibration started to reach the level of an earthquake.
An enormous explosion, originating from the Notre Dame, blasted straight into the morning sky of Paris. It threw big chunks of stone and debris high up in the air, and smoke began rising from the site. The once proud island was now reduced into a wreck; a place of destruction... a hole in the ground stood in place of the Notre Dame.
At 5:17, people living and working around the Île de la Cité came out of their houses, their workplaces, the cafés, bars and offices to see what was going on ... all of them had heard the loud explosion only a few hundred meters away ... too paralyzed to panic , unable to feel anything other than shock. At that exact moment, a thousand tons of debris and stone came crashing down from the sky after previously blown upwards by the enormous explosion that destroyed the Notre Dame. At 5:18 about 3,600 people had died instantaneously due to the heavy impact of rubble and it reduced the area to a burning inferno.
The water in the Seine had evaporated because of the intense heat and all buildings on the old island were flattened hundreds of meters in all directions. At 5:25, a serene quietness came over the disaster area ... here and there you could hear the noise of stones falling down, of fire, and a low rumble coming from beneath the earth. A thick, poisoned green-gray cloud of smoke was rising from the devastation, fed by the deep hole where once the Notre Dame stood.
Throughout the wreckage, sharp shrieking began to emerge ... shrill sounds that could not originate from a human voice ... from any voice at all! The sounds were indescribable, horrifying and paralyzing everything within its reach. Few were able to look through the thick smoke to see faint movements and dimmed flashes of grayish light. Everyone could hear the low penetrating wail... the wail that traveled over the wounded city... foreboding of that to come, a devilish horror... a soul-wrecking demolition.
At 5:29, the authorities were reacting to the catastrophe and the first rescue units were hastened towards the disaster area. Wailing sirens could be heard approaching the Île de la Cité from all sides and hospitals were preparing themselves for the expected stream of wounded civilians. Helicopters and airplanes were launched from the surrounding airports and flew to the area.
When the first fire engine reached the border of the site, its engine stopped working. The firemen were confused; not understanding what was going on ... the engines shutting down was impossible. What was worse, they could not assist the rescue workers ... now they needed to be rescued themselves! The chief of the firefighter crew was not a happy man ... without equipment they could do nothing. When the firemen tried to contact headquarters, they also found that they could not communicate with anyone ... the telephones and radio were not working as well as the engine, nothing was! The only thing that the crew noticed was the approaching dirty-yellow mist, the strange piercing wail and the forthcoming coldness. The temperature dropped at least 20 degrees.
The chief's eyes went wide ... the coldness froze his limbs ... he could not move ... only able to stare into the mist and listen to the wailing that was getting louder. The feeling of fast-approaching doom became stronger. Two colleagues were standing between him and the traveling mist; he could see their terrified faces ... the men also seemed unable to move. Then he thought he heard something ... both his co-workers shrunk ... no ... it ... they were torn to pieces!
"Oh my god, have mercy on my soul!"
That was the last thing he could say before his being was pulled from his body. Finally he saw what was responsible for all the carnage.
At the same time that the chief of the fire brigade lost his soul to the demon, two helicopters were approaching the disaster area and promptly crashed. Boulevard Richard Lenoir, where over a thousand people lived, suffered enormous fire and explosive damage from this.
The airplane, which was following the helicopters, immediately reported the additional problem before the radio connection was broken and it crashed straight into the large train station Gar de Nord, killing a thousand people instantaneously.
At 5:55, a deep, unearthly wailing could be heard at Bourse de Commerce, opposite the Rue du Louvre. The sound was deafening, nowhere within its reach was safe. The wailing was soon to be followed by a translucent mist ... shielding buildings, roads, parks ... everything. Whatever the mist was covering, it left absolute devastation behind it.
The same wailing could be heard in the south of Paris at St. Germain de Pres, which was also covered in the dirty-yellow mist and ruined. In the west, the Eiffel tower was enclosed in the mist and in the east, La Bastille was obliterated.
At Ecole Militaire, the French military school near the Eiffel Tower, there stood a small group of ten uniformed people looking horrorstricken to the approaching mist.
"Platoon, in formation!" A young captain ordered in a loud voice. The nine others, who were all soldiers, hastily started to group themselves in a double line, and all appeared weary. They took their guns and directed it to the mist.
"FIRE!" The captain screamed.
Nine guns went off before the mist reached them and their souls were taken. Their bodies were torn apart ... their limbs were scattered, their insides eaten and blood was splattered all around.
The dirty yellow mist continued to cover the area surrounding the Eiffel Tower, the buildings of Ecole Militaire, the Hotel des Invalides... all were transformed into tombs. The 3,500 people, who were trying to hide, faced death ... their bodies reduced to half-eaten pulp.
Pierre Gateau was the head Auror of the France Ministry of Magic. He and a 120 other Aurors were standing in the park Jardin Villemin, near the train station Gare de l'Est. They saw the yellow-greenish mist approaching and became very uneasy. The feeling of coldness overwhelmed them.
"Aurors, the Patronus Charm on my command!" Pierre said loudly while holding his arm up. The Aurors prepared themselves for the onslaught. Pierre's arm came down and pointed to the approaching mist. "Fire!" He commanded. Ninety-seven Patronuses were cast and headed towards the mist ... and flew through it ... with no effect.
The mist had reached them now and they were all covered. The environment immediately changed. The Aurors were instantly aware that they could not see the sun anymore ... only shadowy forms moving right outside their vision. All sounds were severely reduced to faint echoes, voices from other Aurors sounding like slow-playing tape recorders of whose batteries were almost dead.
There was a smell ... the smell of rot and decay. The Aurors moved slowly in formation further into the mist. Nothing seemed to move fast, there was no direct danger coming their way ... yet.
One of the Aurors tripped and fell on his knees ... and screamed in horror. He had slipped because the head of a little girl with long, blond hair had been in his path... the eyes were gone and the back of her head was eaten away. The Auror, staring at what was left of the girl, threw up.
The ground upon which they were walking was covered in a red muddy slime. When they looked more carefully, they discovered that the slime was nothing other then blood, crushed body parts and half-devoured human limbs. They even saw the body parts of dogs and cats.
All Aurors seem to freeze at same time, having heard the ever-present unearthly wailing that was rapidly increasing in volume. Something was approaching them ... Pierre Gateau ordered his Aurors in a ring position, so that they could defend themselves from all directions and that was a fatal mistake. Suddenly a creature appeared from nowhere, slashing apart the closest Aurors it could find and twenty lost their lives. The rest turned towards the creature, which moved extremely fast, and fired the first curses. Because of the formation chosen, many other at the opposite side of opposite side of the ring were hit and killed instantly.
Pierre Gateau screamed at them to regroup but it was already too late. The vicious creature, the demon, was already decimating the rest of the Aurors. The ten survivors who managed to regroup pointed their wands towards the demon and fired curses designed against dark creatures, like demons. The problem with those curses was that they were intended for the lower-level ones and were ineffectual against the seventh level demons.
Five more Aurors went down and Pierre Gateau made a decision, which saved at least three lives. He activated their Portkeys and told them to report to the ministry that the mission had failed. Pierre Gateau cast the killing curse at the demon but it had no effect, before he and another were killed as well.
At 8:56, all major roads exiting Paris were packed with cars, busses, trucks and streaming masses of screaming and panicking people who were desperately trying to escape the carnage and the mysterious mist approaching. At the time, the major networks in France, Europe and all over the world were presenting the disaster live on television. Billions of people were horrified, watching their television sets and the sickening live view of Paris' destruction that spread by the minute ... the streets were red by the blood of a million people dead ... body parts everywhere visible on the television screens.
The latest news was that all the patients of the five huge hospitals were slaughtered. In the south of the Jardin du Luxenbourg the five major hospitals were located: St. Vincent de Paul, Martenite Port Royal, Cochin, Val de Grace and Institut Curie. All surviving patients were being evacuated into the awaiting ambulances, trucks, and busses by members of the French army. The action, reported live by all major news organizations, was viewed by millions ... no billions of people all over the world who sat clustered around the television sets watching the desperate attempt to save the people. Everything went smoothly until the dirty yellow mist reached the first busses of people to be transported away, who screamed in revulsion and terror. Some of them tried to leave the busses ... but they were massacred right in front of the cameras, which sent the pictures straight to the satellites that circled the earth many kilometers away in space.
After one minute, the total area where almost 10,000 people were packed together - patients, civilians and soldiers alike - was destroyed. Every square centimeter of surface was red with blood and bodies were everywhere. A majority of the viewers felt sick. The TV signal was interrupted and the news from the Paris disaster area was stopped.
At 11:15, large streams of refugees evacuating Paris were spreading throughout the country, escaping the horror and death. All airports were overloaded with people who wanted to leave France and attempted to take the last airplanes available. Mass panic broke out at the Charles de Gaule airport and many people died during the stampede, disrupting the traffic from that point on.
Countries surrounding France became increasingly nervous. Nobody had any idea what the problem was in Paris. Was it a disease, was it invasions of invisible creatures like so many people were saying, or was it a secret military weapon on a rampage? The Heads of State in Belgium, Germany, Switzerland and Italy were ordering their military troops to close the French borders.
At 13:00, the France President Charles du Pont was in an emergency meeting with his military commanders and his cabinet.
President Charles du Pont stood up from his chair and turned to his Commander-in-Chief, General-Major Guillome Masseile. "Can you give us an update about the situation, Guillome?"
General-Major Guillome Masseile also stood and addressed the meeting room: "Of course I can, Mr. President. The situation is as follows: about 5 o'clock this morning a big explosion occurred under the Notre Dame. The church and the island Île de la Cité was totally destroyed. Right after the explosion, debris fell on the north and south bank, destroying all properties in the afflicted areas. All civilians are assumed dead. From that moment, a yellow-greenish mist appeared from the epicenter of the explosion which quickly spread throughout Paris. Everywhere that the mist touched ... everything what was alive died in a terrible way; the bodies of the victims were torn apart.
We did not unleash this phenomenon and we do not know what it is. Whatever it may be, it acts as if a biological weapon; it spreads like an infection in the body. The stories we hear in the press about invisible creatures from space are unlikely to be the truth. It is more probable that this is an act of terrorism but no terrorists have laid claim and even they would be unable to cope with the destruction here. It is still a possibility. This is also not due to a foreign army, I do not think it is human, but whatever it is I truly do not know. The closest possible match to this disaster is from a biological weapon of some sort."
General-Major Guillome Masseile pointed to a map on the wall. They saw it to be of Paris and the surrounding cities. "As you can see on the map, there are four circles drawn. Starting with the first circle in the red color, that is the area of the explosion. The area is destroyed. The second is in a yellow color and that was the position of the mist about 5 minutes ago. The third circle in blue is the area which is most likely to be covered within one hour and the last in brown is where the mist is likely to occupy within six hours .The last area covers Paris and its satellite cities. We estimate that the mist has cost about 3.6 million people their lives so far.
We have no way to stop the phenomenon because we do not know what it is. We also do not have time to study it because it grows too fast. The only thing that is certain is that it is spreading slower as it must cover a larger area then before but our calculations have restrictions.
If we are not able to stop this, and we do not have a reason to assume that it will stop by itself, it will destroy France, all countries surrounding France, all of Europe and Asia. Whatever it is, it is a global issue. We have no idea what it is and we also do not have any idea how to fight it. In addition, there are no survivors; the mist is covering the full area from the epicenter outwards and nothing is alive in that mist. Thank you, gentlemen."
The General-Major sat down in his chair.
The president turned to a man who was dressed in dark robes, and looked at him pointedly. The man slowly shook his head. "What we know," he said slowly, "is nothing can be done. More than a hundred of our kind tru to stop it but we were destroyed within a minute."
The president knew that the man was the member of the hidden ministry, the Ministry of Magic in France, and if they were unable to do something against it with their magic, then what could he do?
There was a shocked silence when nobody moved. A telephone rang and the president answered it automatically. He was listening intently ... his face like stone ... and slowly closed the connection.
"On highway 2 Paris to Charles de Gaule was a stream of about 700,000 refugees ... they were all killed ... no one is alive. A Mirage 2000 jet crashed near the site but was still able to send images of the carnage towards its base.
He looked up to his advisors. "Are there any ideas here, gentlemen?"
A colonel with a huge moustache stood up. "Colonel Frederick Renoir, Mr. President. I think we need to bomb Paris with one or more nuclear weapons, Sir. That is the only way to destroy everything within the city and this phenomenon as well. Thank you Sir." Colonel Frederick Renoir sat down.
General-Major Guillome Masseile stood up. "I think that is the only logical and accurate response we have had up till now and there is about..." he looked at his watch, "say 30 minutes to decide and it will take15 minutes to launch three bombs, otherwise it might escape, continue its rampage and become unstoppable. I also think that it should be the only change we have because after the phenomenon is unstoppable, even if we decide to use nuclear weapons, the infected area would be too wide to be effective."
"But we will destroy our capital city, Guillome! How could you say that? In addition, what about all those people dying then? We will kill them all!" Another General-Lieutenant said.
"We lost Paris already; many died, many are dying and many will die. If we do nothing, I am sure that America will launch a nuclear assault to protect the rest of the world and themselves from utter destruction." General-Major Guillome Masseile replied.
"Did we investigate what exactly happened with a victim of the mist?" Colonel Frederick Renoir asked.
"Yes, we did all we could. When the mist reaches the victim, the victim seems to spasm, then the limbs are torn from his corpse. In many cases, the corpse will be torn up as well, but not always. The head is always the first to be torn from the body." The General-Major answered.
The president sighed and looked to the situation map on the wall. Everyone was quiet ... the final decision was his to make. The silence in the situation room extended to ten minutes until the president stood up. He looked old and weary. "It has to be done. Inform the allied countries, prepare one nuclear bomb of 1.5 megaton and launch it on Paris. When we are ready for launch, I will give the final activation codes."
At 14:05, the French president was standing in front of the situation map with both hands behind his back. He gave the order and fed the computers the actuation codes. It would take at least ten minutes before the bomb would be detonated and his life ended. The headquarters of the French army were straight under the Place de la Nation, southeast of the old Île de la Cité. When the bomb detonates, he would perish like everyone else in the city. The room was empty, only he was in the room; everyone was being evacuated, except him. The decision to destroy Paris would be his last because it was, for him, impossible to live with that. His vice-president was informed, his wife and children were safely taken care of and all business was in order, waiting for the end.
He knew that France would be destroyed. The majority of the French population lived in Paris. He only hoped that he could save the rest from the approaching death and that France would recover from the onslaught in future years.
Suddenly he heard a noise behind him. He slowly turned and saw his colleague, the Minister of Magic in France. "What are you doing here, Bernard?" The president asked.
Bernard looked thoughtfully to the president. "I am doing the same as you, Charles. I am waiting for the end to come."
The president looked somberly at the Minister of Magic. "Do you want to die as well, Bernard?"
"I don't want to die, Charles. Certain decisions in life must be made and some of them I cannot live with. I personally agree with what you are doing and for me it is fine to sit with you till the end. Should I escape like the rest, I would not be able to live with this. I will join you in the last minutes of our existence. So, do you have any last words before everything is over?"
The president looked thoughtfully for a moment. "Nothing comes to my mind, Bernard. What about we play a game of chess? Do you still have that Wizarding chess set with you?"
The Minister of Magic smiled sadly. "That is a good idea, Charles. Let's play."
At 14:15, a nuclear bomb was dropped and detonated in Paris, obliterating everything within the range of 25 kilometers and leaving a huge crater behind. Millions of people perished in less then a microsecond and more were dying in the shockwaves, the fallout of the bomb. The mist was gone.
The French Ministry of Magic, which was located under Gare d'Austerlitz, was gone as well.
-----
Arthur Weasley sat with the Heads of Department of the Ministry of Magic, England, in a meeting with Minister Bones. Everyone was shocked into silence from the facts of the disaster happening at that same moment.
Dirk Cresswell, who was before the Head of the Goblin Liaison Office and now was the Head of the International Magical Office of Law, took the stage. "So let's summarize the facts. Minister, you wish to tell us that four demons were causing havoc in Paris, killing millions of Muggles in hardly one morning and the French Muggle government destroyed Paris with one ... what did you call it?"
"Bomb." Madame Bones, the acting minister said.
"That is right, a bomb. So that Muggle government killed millions extra only to kill the demons?"
Madame Bones looked wearily to her department heads. "I think I understand the reasoning behind that decision. If the Muggles had not dropped the bomb, the killing would continue and spread over the whole of Europe... the death toll would be uncountable and don't forget that many witches and wizards would perish as well."
"Are at least the demons gone?" Dirk Cresswell asked.
"We assume they are gone because that bomb produced heat higher in temperature then the sun and everything in the epicenter of the explosion has evaporated. We cannot go look because the temperature is still too high and there is radiation around the impact which kills all creatures immediately. What is it called, Arthur?"
Arthur Weasley stood up and addressed the group. "It is called radioactive radiation and will kill anything alive. The radiation will stay there for many years to come. After the bomb was detonated, it exploded like a miniature sun. It is extremely hot and burns everything while exploding. The detonation causes an implosion followed immediately by an explosion, in other words, a shockwave, which blasts through everything.
Then it will unleash two things ... an enormous cloud in the shape of a mushroom which is kilometers high, possibly reaching as high as the stratosphere and a cloud of radiation, which kills indirectly as well. This cloud is being spread now by the wind, and everything within its reach will be infected by radiation poison, they will die shortly in a terrible way. We are lucky here, because that wind is blowing the cloud eastwards, that means Switzerland and north Italy."
"Do those Muggles have such a power that they can destroy cities?" asked Belabor Catcher, the department head of Magical Games.
"Yes they have." Arthur Weasley continued. "They have many methods for mass destruction and that bomb is only one way. And the bomb they have used on Paris is not the most powerful they have."
"Could we not use such bomb on the demon gate in South America?"
"I think that is a good idea to consider, Minister. Because Paris only had to deal with four demons, we now expect 666 more demons to come."
-----
Ha'alem arrived alone at the demon Gate. It had lost his three other demons in something it did not understand. They were normally eating those creatures and suddenly there was a flash and suns exploded right in the area they were eating. Ha'alem was lucky because he did not get a direct hit, but for the first time in its existence, it experienced a feeling of ... fear.
Ha'alem did not care for his three demon brothers, because it knew that its brothers would recover in their dimension. The physical bodies and all the souls collected over the millennia were lost though. Only Ha'alem had survived.
Ha'alem was truly impressed by the explosion; it assumed that those creatures were responsible for the burning sun which killed the bodies of his three brothers. He barely escaped. If those creatures had succeeded in killing the bodies of all of them, Ha'alem included, they would not be able to access this world any longer because no operative would assist in arranging the connection with his universe.
Ha'alem made the decision not to go out to a rampage anymore, unless he and his brothers in full strength could return and take what was theirs. He also started to prepare to move the demon gate to another location because it knew that those damned creatures knew where the previous demon gate was located.
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