SHIPWRECK. ❪ Newt Scamander ❫ ✓

twenty-one

"The moment has come to share my vision of the future that awaits if we do not rise up and take our rightful place in the world," Grindelwald announced.

Rosier walked on stage, bowing as she presented the skull-hookah to him. The crowd listened intently at what was to come. Grindelwald was illuminated by the skull's golden light. He inhaled deeply through the tube. His eyes rolled up into his head. He exhaled and a gigantic technicolor cloak unfurled from his lips across the high stone ceiling, bearing moving images. Trinity jumped in her seat. The crowd gasped dramatically.

There were thousands of marching, booted feet, along with explosions and men running with guns. The light of the vision played across their faces. There was a nuclear blast in the vision that rocked the amphitheater. The crowd felt the explosion, mourning amongst themselves in fright and panic.

"Not another war," Jacob whispered.

The vision faded away. Trinity was trembling, her eyes hooked onto where the vision once was. Her family once told her of the wars that humans caused in the past. They took the war to the sea, ships surrounded the surface of the water as the sirens were forced to hide away. They couldn't sing or eat for months because there were too many humans. Trinity didn't want another war. She didn't want anyone else to die. She lost too much already.

"That is what we are fighting!" Grindelwald shouted. "That is the enemy - their arrogance, their power lust, their barbarity. How long will it take before they turn their weapons on us?"

Aurors were going unnoticed, entering the auditorium and fanning out among the crowd. The situation could easily go wrong. One slip-up and chaos would reign upon them.

"Do nothing when I speak of this. You must remain calm and contain your emotions." He pauses. "There are Aurors here among us."

People gasped as they turned around, looking for said Aurors. The Aurors were clearly outnumbered by Grindelwald's followers.

"Come closer, brother wizards! Join us," Grindelwald whispered.

The crowd hissed at the Aurors as they walked forward to show themselves. Leta was curious, so she turned around to look. Her eyes immediately found Theseus.

"Do nothing. No force," Theseus commanded the Aurors.

However, one of the young Aurors made eye contact with a young red-haired witch. She was angry and reaching for her wand.

"They have killed many of my followers, it is true. They caught and tortured me in New York. They had struck down their fellow witches and wizards for the simple crime of seeking truth, for wanting freedom."

Grindelwald was deliberately playing on the young Auror and the red-haired witch's feelings. She desired to harm those that didn't understand, and the first one to go would be the young Auror.

"Your anger - your desire for revenge - is natural."

Then, she raised her wand, but the Auror acted first, sending a curse her way. She fell to the ground, solid and dead. Trinity stood up, wanting to rush to Newt. He looked at her from one of the benches, shaking his head with a frightened expression. The Niffler squeezed its chubby body out of Newt's case, going unnoticed until Newt saw it running away. He bit down on his lap and tried to get to the Niffler, but he ended up losing it.

Screams filled the auditorium. Grindelwald walked
into the crowd, which parted for him. He knelt down and pulled the dead witch into his arms.

"Take this young warrior back to her family," Grindelwald commanded her friends. "Disapparate. Leave. Go forth from this place and spread the word: It is not we who are violent."

They took the body and Disapparated, as did most of the crowd. Theseus and the Aurors watched the purebloods leave. Theseus ushered his Aurors forward.

"Let's take him," Theseus said, looking straight at Grindelwald.

They started to descend the amphitheater steps when Grindelwald turned his back to the Aurors, relishing the fight to come.

"Protego diabolica." Grindelwald spun and drew a protective circle of orange fire around himself. The flames slowly turned a vibrant electric blue. The exits closed.

Abernathy, Carrow, Krafft, Macduff, Nagel, and Rosier walked through the flames easily and into the circle, Grindelwald stood on. Krall, however, hesitated. He walked into the fire to get to the circle but was consumed by the flames. He turned to ash.

"Aurors, join me in this circle, pledge to me your eternal allegiance, or die. Only here shall you know freedom, only here shall you know yourself."
Grindelwald sent a wall of flames into the air,
pursuing fleeing Aurors who were trying to Disapparate out of the amphitheater, but they were caught and made into ashes. "Play by the rules!" Grindelwald shouted. "No cheating, children."