𝒜𝒻𝓉𝑒𝓇𝓂𝒶𝓉𝒽 | 𝒟.𝑀.

75 | ﴾ Grand Architect ﴿

As the shadows grew within the Ministry atrium, the faces of the impotent souls scattered protectively in front of the elevators darkened with a sense of hopelessness. The black and forest tile cladding that covered the entire interior shimmered with the remaining green light source that was being drawn into Ascelin's fingers from the golden fireplaces at her sides.

Her bones snapped and cracked as though they were comprised of wood instead of osseous matter, rolling the fire into a concentrated ball of power in her clutches and forcing Madeleine's pretty face into a hideous grin that seemed unnatural from all angles.

The surface of the massive circular fountain plated into a cool lamination of thin ice, producing a vaulting sound as the freezing sheets closed together. Every single hair on their bodies raised in the electrified air, as though lightning had just struck nearby. The golden statues of Adaleus, Albus, and Kingsley watched from hundreds of feet in the air as the lethal goddess prepared to extinguish anything oppositional in her path with an entertained laugh, sounding like a dozen people all at once in a demonic reverb.

A man in aurors robes made a bold move to shoot a killing spell at Madeleine, and it bounced clean off of her as though an invisible forcefield were protecting the deity.

Draco felt a small tug on his jacket collar, and his eyes discreetly slid down to Hermione who was encouraging him and Harry to shuffle closer to her. The five students that happened to be there for the battle of the Ministry clustered gradually together as Ascelin's laughing increased in volume in the blackening institution.

They were practically now hidden behind a thick line of Ministry officials, and Draco quickly realized that Hermione was enacting micromovements to draw them around the edge of the fountain so that they would be shielded by the central statues.

The mocking and heavily accented snarl of Ascelin's voice through Madeleine rung around the shadows, "One...last...chanceee, parasites. Announce devotion to my dynasty, or opt for oblivion."

As she taunted them with the mysterious threat of eradication, dangerous killing curses were flying off of her body and bursting like objectionable fireworks against the hard surfaces above them, then raining down in slow sparks before dissolving.

It was nearly pitch black behind the large effigies in the frozen water feature. The group of five were now a good dozen meters from where Ascelin was pacing with the ball of lime coloured flames, unable to see exactly what she was doing as they all huddled down onto their knees and ankles with their backs shivering against the marble coping of the seatwall.

Hermione leaned into Harry; the motion only decipherable to Draco because of how close they were all huddled in the lack of lighting. She whispered quietly, "When I cast a protective ward, we must all try to add to it. I don't know if it will work, but...we don't have any other choice but defense right now."

"Keep it tight," Draco warned breathily on her other side, more familiar than any of them with military tactics. "The larger the radius, the weaker the superstratum. Don't try to save the rest of them."

She glared at him in the darkness; he could see the hardness and disappointment in her eyes. "Play the hero part, and we all die Granger. You can't save everyone tonight," Draco hissed at her without a care for her judgement of his ethics.

He lifted his arm to balance partially upright on the wall, rotating on his heels to peer at the demon in the entrance to the room.

Through the gaps in bodies he caught glimpses of her on either side of the monuments as she paced back forth. She paused, and Draco leaned into Seamus obnoxiously to see where she held forward the glimmering fiery orb in front of her with both of her hands outstretched like a pretty sculpture in a rainy garden.