January 25, 1996, 1100 (11am), overlooking the Malfoy Manor. Sergeant Park, unknowingly the grandson of a squib, sat in a tree overlooking the meadow toward Malfoy Manor. His partner, Sergeant Stillman manned the laser aimed at the manor. "Rembrandt to Bulldog" he spoke into his comm device. "Bulldog here, go ahead Rembrandt". "Target is painted" he responded. "Bird is on its way" was the reply. "Roger and out" he responded. Sergeant Park quickly dropped out of the tree and took cover behind the rock wall with Sergeant Stillman. Two silent minutes later, the manor ahead of them exploded. The explosion wave front expanded rapidly, overcoming their position delivering ash, dust, and debris. "Package delivered on target" he stated calmly in his mike. "Awaiting visual confirmation" was the response back. Sergeants Park and Stillman waited a minute then poked their heads above the stone wall and observed the (former) manor using high-powered binoculars. "This is Rembrandt, target is destroyed – no movement observed" he replied back. "Roger, Rembrandt. Cleanup, pack up and return to base. The janitors will sweep up". Sergeants Park and Stillman did just that.
January 25, 1996, 11:05am, Gringotts Bank, Inheritance Office – Brassballs was sitting at his desk when 30 forms slammed down in front of him. He paged through them, noting that all of the Death Notices were for either known Death Eaters or sympathizers. Lucius, Narcissa and Draco Malfoy were all included – that was going to be a mess. Somebody was busy that day, he thought. A pity there was none for Voldemort or Tom Riddle.
January 25, 1996, 4:00pm, Minister Fudge's Office. Minister Fudge rushed into his office to meet with Dumbledore, Madam Bones, and Head Auror Scrimgeour. "Madam Bones! What have you done? Malfoy Manor has been destroyed!" the Minister shouted. "What I have done? Minister, haven't I been telling you all month to do SOMETHING about the deadline? Didn't I tell you the muggle government wasn't going to take this laying down?" she responded. "They did this? How could they possibly do this kind of damage? The entire manor is destroyed, parts of bodies strewn around for hundreds of meters!" the Minister cried out. "I tried to tell you their capabilities but you refused to listen. You also refused to believe Voldemort is back or that they have been attacking the muggle world!" she continued. "You have refused to believe the evidence shown to you by the muggle Prime Minister! If you are not going to listen, what can I do? Voldemort tried to kill the Queen herself, for Merlin's sake! Lastly, you have yet to develop a strategy to respond to the issue about the Magna Carta. Who knows what the muggles will do, or when, if we do not pick up our own slack! I recommend you contact the Prime Minister to give them a status update." Madam Bones finished, leaving the room while throwing her hands up in the air. She went back to her office, wrote a letter of resignation, wrote a notice to the Prophet and Quibbler newspapers explaining why she was resigning, and then called in Hammer, Wood and Scrimgeour. Once they assembled in her office she said "I just wanted to let you know that I am resigning, effective immediately. I just know they will toss all this sh**t on me when the dragon drops it." "What are you going to do now Boss?" asked Scrimgeour. "I am going to enroll Susie in Beauxbotons or in Salem. If I get a positive answer, we will be taking a nice vacation." She replied. "I cannot tell you what to do, or not to do. All I will say is make sure your backs are covered at all times. Fudge is in denial and Dumbledore thinks the muggles are not serious. I have seen them serious, and they are deadly. I have seen their people in battle, and we could only wish we were one tenth as good as them." She concluded. "You know how to reach me, but I may be incommunicado at times". Madam Bones finished. Then she got up and left the office, delivering her letters along the way.
January 25, 1996. 4:00pm. Nott Manor. Voldemort sat in his newly conjured throne in the reception room of the manor, frustrated. He had lost over 120 Death Eaters, at least 15 giants and 30 dementors just in the last 90 days, and to muggles no less! Many of his inner circle had been decimated: the Malfoys, the Le Stranges, Goyles, Crabbes and Flints to name just a few. He needed a win, and if he couldn't get one against the muggles, he was going to get one against the magical world. Now, what would be an appropriate and easy target? Diagon Alley? Hogsmead? Mmmm.
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Later that evening, Madam Bones was sitting in the lounge in the Ostuary, aka Bones Manor. A non-descript brown owl pecked at the window seeking entrance. She cautiously looked out, then opened the window to let the owl in, wondering why it didn't come in through the owelry. It was a regal looking owl, which sat on her window sill stretching out it's taloned foot waiting for her to remove the note tied there. (She did not notice the large bird sitting in the tree at the edge of the property.) "Madam Bones, Hogsmead on Saturday at noon will not be safe." When she looked back up, the owl was gone. She did not recognize the writing. She scanned the note for magic or magical residue with no conclusive readings. She wasn't sure what to do. The situation felt …familiar in a way. Madam Bones picked up her phone and called the Commander. "Good evening Commander, it's Madam Bones." "Good evening Madam Bones. It's a nice surprise – what can I do for you this evening?" he asked. "Commander, you mentioned once that you had some advance warning about an attack, and that you sent out a…..recon/surveillance unit, I believe you called them?" "Yes" he replied. "The source of the information was not yet vetted, and we did not want to unduly frighten the population, so we sent a team capable of reacting if necessary. Why" he asked. They continued talking for another 30 minutes.
January 26, 1996. 8:00am, Great Hall, Hogwarts. Neville, Ron and Ginny Weasley, the twins, Luna Lovegood, Susan Bones and her best friend Hanna Abbot were sitting at their respective tables eating breakfast when the daily "mail bomb" occurred. The Prophet (and in Luna's case the Quibbler) was delivered to many in the hall. On the front page of the Prophet was a picture of a crater with scattered debris around. The Prophet headline read "Malfoy Manor destroyed by Muggles?" The Quibbler headline read "Malfoy Manor destroyed by gas leak!" Several owls bearing black envelops were observed delivering their load to children around the hall. A somber silence descended onto the hall. Susan received a letter from her Aunt.
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