Red the Human - Part 3
The Ministry of Magic was in chaos.
Which, to be honest, wasn't all that unusual.
But this time, it was a different kind of chaos.
This time, it was real chaos.
"Another report from the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes!"
"We need more Obliviators in the northern district!"
"Another magical surge just appeared right in front of dozens of Muggles!"
"We've lost contact with another team of Aurors!"
"What do you mean you've lost contact?!"
"They're not dead! They just... seem to have run away!"
Inside one of the main rooms of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, several maps floated in the air, displaying different locations throughout London.
Every few minutes, another red marker appeared.
And every time it did, several officials turned pale at the same time, because those marks meant magic had been used in front of Muggles, requiring the deployment of the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad, Obliviators, and the Muggle-Worthy Excuse Committee.
All to keep the Statute of Secrecy intact.
But today was perhaps the darkest day those departments had ever seen, because they simply didn't have enough witches and wizards to deal with every incident happening simultaneously.
The problem was that they didn't even know whether they were under attack by magical terrorists trying to finally abolish the Statute... or something else entirely.
Because the only people who had managed to arrive in time to investigate had ended up unconscious almost immediately.
So far, they had absolutely no information.
And magical disturbances kept appearing all over London.
Which was obviously very bad.
And it was only a matter of time before the International Confederation of Wizards stepped in.
Which would only create even more problems.
The International Statute of Secrecy wasn't exactly a minor recommendation someone could ignore just because they were having a bad day.
"Have you identified them yet?!" Rufus Scrimgeour demanded in a harsh voice while several Aurors prepared to head out.
"No, sir," the nearest Auror answered nervously while the others ran around the room receiving assignments, looking as though they were being sent off to war.
"Is it a group? One person? Several?" Scrimgeour continued asking, receiving no answers.
"What spells were used? At least then we'd know whether this is a battle between powerful wizards," Rufus roared.
"...No... we're not sure," the official replied again, his face completely pale.
Scrimgeour stared at the man in fury.
"What do you mean you're not sure? Then what the hell do you know?!" he shouted again, feeling these officials were utterly useless.
The man swallowed hard.
"Well... the teams say the magic is... red," he said.
It was the only clue they had.
But it helped absolutely no one.
Even Rufus looked like he was about to have a stroke.
Especially when none other than Cornelius Fudge burst into the room, his face flushed red and his bowler hat slightly crooked, as though he'd put it on while running at full speed.
"What is the meaning of this?! Why haven't you captured whoever is endangering the Statute of Secrecy?!" demanded the Minister for Magic, accompanied by Amelia Bones, whose expression looked anything but pleasant after having rushed there on emergency notice.
"Where are the Aurors you sent? Doesn't a single one of them have eyes on these attackers?" Fudge demanded, feeling as though this might be an attack against his Ministry.
"No... well... they were... neutralized, sir," Rufus answered in a lower voice, though still visibly irritated. "We've lost communication with them."
"What?!" Fudge shouted, growing more frantic by the second. "Do you have any idea what's happening right now? Do you have the slightest idea?!"
Amelia frowned slightly.
Because the timing didn't really matter.
The only thing that mattered was preserving the Statute of Secrecy.
Nothing else.
But Fudge wasn't finished.
"Black and Greengrass are rallying half the Wizengamot against the Ministry. The Board of Governors is starting to act as though it can make every decision on its own. Parents, ancient families, even neutral members are questioning every decision we make."
His voice grew increasingly tense, talking about matters that had absolutely nothing to do with the current crisis, only with his own political interests.
"And now someone shows up using magic in front of Muggles as though they want to destroy the Statute of Secrecy just to ruin me!"
"Minister!" Amelia interrupted without hesitation. She didn't care in the slightest what the Minister was feeling. This wasn't the time to listen to his nonsense or worry about whether he'd be re-elected next term. "We don't know if that's their goal, but right now our priority is containing this situation before it gets any worse."
Fudge stopped and angrily turned toward Scrimgeour.
"Send more Aurors. Immediately. I want every last one of them on the streets finding the bastards causing trouble for the British Ministry of Magic!" Fudge shouted.
"We've already deployed every available Auror, sir," Rufus answered.
"Then mobilize the unavailable ones too."
Scrimgeour stared at him for a second, looking as though he wanted to say something.
But he thought better of it, closed his mouth, and motioned to his assistant, who immediately ran out of the room.
Probably to summon the retired Aurors... or something along those lines.
"We also need more Obliviators. I don't want a single Muggle remembering even the smallest trace of magic. Even if you have to erase this entire day from their memories, do it," Fudge added, turning toward the officials from the Department of Magical Accidents.
One of them went pale.
"Minister... every single one of them is already working."
"Then send every Ministry employee capable of casting a simple Obliviate out there to deal with it," Fudge ordered.
It sounded simple enough.
But unless someone was a properly certified Obliviator, a Memory Charm like that could cause even more problems than it solved.
An uncomfortable silence filled the room.
Amelia, watching how Fudge behaved in the middle of a crisis, couldn't help gently shaking her head.
…
On the other side of the room, Albus Dumbledore silently watched the floating maps.
He hadn't spoken much since arriving.
Because that feeling...
It was unpleasantly familiar.
Especially after hearing that the magic being used was red.
Only one thought crossed his mind at that description, because there were literally only a handful of people who possessed magic that powerful while also fitting that condition.
"Red..." he murmured, the gleam in his eyes visible beneath his glasses.
But he said nothing more.
Though for a brief moment, an idea seemed to pass through his mind before disappearing as he himself dismissed it, giving his head a slight shake.
Out of habit, he reached for his wand.
But when he drew it, it wasn't the same wand that had accompanied him for so many years after defeating the previous Dark Lord.
"Headmaster Dumbledore," Fudge said, approaching him hopefully. "Perhaps you can identify the one responsible?" he asked.
Though in truth, it seemed more like he wanted Dumbledore to clean up the entire mess for him.
Dumbledore took a moment before answering and gently shook his head.
"No."
Fudge looked disappointed.
Though from his expression, he also seemed somewhat resentful toward Dumbledore for not personally going out to solve the problem.
Albus noticed that easily, but said nothing.
Especially when one of those possibilities was that this catastrophe might somehow be connected to her.
...
Meanwhile...
On a street in London, Red stood in front of a fountain, staring at it with complete seriousness.
The water rose...
Then fell.
Then rose again.
Then fell again.
Red's head followed the stream of water as it rose and fell.
He kept watching it.
Then he reached out and touched the water with one finger.
The water instantly began to boil at his touch, making Red's eyes widen with interest.
"Oh."
The people around him, seeing that, immediately began backing away, frightened simply by Red's presence.
As they watched steam rise from the fountain, which was now boiling.
Then he heard several sounds behind him.
Dozens of footsteps followed by a series of Apparitions rapidly surrounding him.
A second later, more than twenty Aurors had completely encircled the area.
"Don't move!"
"Ministry of Magic!"
"You're under arrest for violating the International Statute of Secrecy!" one of the Aurors shouted immediately while every single one of them pointed their wands at Red.
He slowly turned toward them and looked at them with an interested smile.
His golden eyes caused several Aurors to tense up without understanding why.
As though they were being observed by something that couldn't comprehend why such tiny, weak creatures were pointing little sticks at it.
Completely unaware that technically, he, who looked like a young teenager, was even smaller than they were.
Receiving no response from Red beyond that amused gaze, the Auror spoke again, their wands ready to attack at the slightest suspicious movement.
"Lower your hands slowly."
Red looked at his own hands and raised them in front of his face.
He wiggled his fingers with fascination.
Completely confusing every Auror present.
"Hands," Red explained seriously, as though he were discussing something extremely important. "They have too many fingers."
Yet at the same time, he somehow looked proud of that fact.
No one knew how to respond.
Some of them were even beginning to wonder if they had the wrong person, if not for the aura surrounding this child.
"Last warning," the squad leader said. "Surrender now."
Red raised his gaze toward the Aurors and tilted his head ever so slightly.
A gesture shared by exactly two people.
Nymphadora Tonks, who was among the Aurors at that moment, though farther back, saw that familiar gesture and felt something stop inside her chest.
The very same one she'd seen in Harry.
The one he'd inherited from Wanda.
That way of tilting their heads whenever something made them curious...
Or whenever they were about to do something that would probably cause trouble.
Then Tonks' eyes shifted to the crimson armor that looked as though it had been forged from scales, the boy's vertical, reptilian golden eyes, and his sharp teeth.
And there was only one other being who shared that same gesture with his masters.
"No..." she whispered with a chill running down her spine.
Red felt Tonks' gaze.
Then he turned to look directly at her.
Tonks suddenly remembered that ridiculous day when she'd tried to move a pillow while cleaning a room, only to end up being chased for nearly half an hour by a tiny red dragon that had apparently decided she'd committed a crime worthy of war.
Then she noticed the red wand sticking out from the young man's waist.
And the instant she saw it, everything clicked inside her mind.
"Oh, shit..." she muttered, because every single person who knew the power of that wand seemed capable of saying only those exact words upon realizing who had taken it.
"You know him?" an Auror beside her asked after seeing her reaction.
But she didn't answer immediately.
Instead, she tried to stop what was about to happen.
Because attacking him right now might not be the best idea.
"Wait. I think..."
But it was already too late.
One of the Aurors, unnerved by the pressure Red emitted without even trying, fired a Stunning Spell.
The spell shot straight toward Red.
He simply raised one hand...
Caught the spell...
And looked at it with interest.
Then he brought it to his mouth as though it were a snack.
"Chomp."
And simply swallowed it.
"Oh. That was fun."
"Again," Red said, flashing a grin that looked almost cannibalistic to the Aurors as he stared at them as though he were about to devour them one by one.
Silence.
Every Auror went pale.
"Containment formation!"
At the command, multiple shields sprang up simultaneously while magical chains erupted from the ground through Transfiguration, wrapping around Red in an attempt to restrain him.
But the dragon merely blinked at the chains...
Then casually took a single step.
And they shattered with absurd ease.
And the shields surrounding him shattered from that single movement as though they were made of glass.
The moment the Aurors saw that, they stopped holding back, and their leader gave the order.
"Attack!"
Spells came from every direction, raining down on Red, who didn't even seem bothered enough to dodge them.
They slammed into Red's armor and simply seemed to have no effect.
Whether they were Stunning Spells or any other spell meant to restrain him, they simply vanished the instant they struck those crimson scales.
No.
Even the ones aimed at Red's face, he simply opened his mouth...
And swallowed them in a single bite.
"Damage spells!" the squad leader shouted after realizing the incapacitating spells weren't working.
"No, wait!" Tonks tried to yell.
But her warning didn't help much.
They immediately switched to explosive spells, instantly filling the surroundings with fire, explosions, and smoke, completely obscuring everyone's vision.
After several dozen more attacks, they finally stopped, all staring at the cloud of dust hiding the spot where Red had been standing.
But no one moved.
Every wand remained raised, pointed toward the slowly thinning cloud as the wind began to disperse it.
A second later...
Red was still standing there.
In exactly the same place.
Wearing a thoroughly annoyed expression, his brow furrowed.
"You subjects are rather annoying," Red said as his expression grew more serious...
And far more dangerous.
Then he casually waved one hand.
A crimson wave spread across the street.
Wands flew out of their owners' hands.
Protective shields exploded.
Several Aurors were sent tumbling across the ground for dozens of feet before crashing straight through buildings, their bodies embedded into the walls.
Others became trapped inside small crimson bubbles that lifted them a few inches off the ground before making a sound very similar to Apparition.
Which was why other Auror squads had suddenly lost all communication...
Or had simply disappeared.
Because they'd been sent somewhere else in the world.
Nobody knew where.
Tonks watched that display of magic, bearing the unmistakable crimson color of Harry's and Wanda's magic, and by now she had absolutely no doubt who this was.
"Yeah... it's Red," she said, the only one who hadn't ended up like the rest of the Aurors.
Red raised his head and sniffed the air.
His expression brightened as his golden eyes lit up even brighter.
"He's close," he said happily.
Tonks tried to stop him.
But Red wasn't listening.
His body transformed back into crimson mist and shot off between the buildings.
Tonks took a step forward.
"Red, wait!"
But she was too late.
The mist had already disappeared.
Leaving behind more than twenty defeated Aurors, a boiling fountain...
And a Tonks wearing the expression of someone who had just realized her day was about to get much, much worse.
Tommy arrived at that exact moment, completely out of breath, his clothes drenched in sweat.
But he froze the instant he saw the destruction surrounding him.
Then his eyes met Tonks'.
She stared at him flatly for a few seconds while her hair slowly turned a darker color.
At the same time, she raised one hand and pointed in the direction the crimson mist had gone.
Tommy wanted to thank her.
But judging by the look on Tonks' face...
She clearly needed something far more than a simple thank you.
So he simply vanished once again in a burst of super speed, racing after Red.
At that very moment, another cloud of crimson mist suddenly appeared in the exact same spot, taking Harry's form.
The instant he saw the scene around him...
He froze for a second.
Then he noticed Tonks' expression.
But he didn't wait for her to point out which direction Red had gone.
He simply said,
"Oops."
And disappeared just as fast as he had arrived.