| Details for MLF Attack |
| Summary: | Upon receiving letters Graham and Rena arrive at an AoT meeting to help, but surprises lurk around the corners for both of them. |
| Date: | 1939-089-01 |
| Location: | 29 Umber Alley |
| Plot: | For the Greater Good |
| Related: | Splinched! |
| Characters |
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The evening has turned to darkness and that darkness is amplified by the lack of any starlight or moonlight creeping down into Umber Alley. 29 Umber Alley, sits quietly almost no movement can be seen within, the curtains drawn closed and the doors shut. It certainly creates as rather eerie feeling, which is increased by the almost silence, that can be heard when one moves closer to it.
As Graham moves closer, nothing particularly out of place, can be heard on the Alley nor the house in question. A figure however holding a wand walks in front of the window, his silhouette can be scene, though the wand comes up and he points it at the ground, a spell being cast. The figure looks over it's shoulder then wakes away from in front of the window.
Graham is moving down the alley way looking about as he does the numbers for the houses or any businesses he'd pass along the way. The young man is likely nearing the place he'd been asked to go and so removing his hand from his sleeve his wand is held in it, he's trying to be practical he may not need it but he'd rather have it close by just in case as he approaches closer.
The house and Alley stay quiet. Just the soft sound of an owl echoing through the night, not a soul to be seen anywhere. Though the sound sound of a few rapid cracks can be heard from within 29 Umber Alley.
Graham looks and checks his glance, suddenly using the front door doesn't seem like the best idea if possible. He is careful to not move to quickly and be detected while he looks around for any other way for him to get into the house now. He moves around trying to take in all sides and hoping for a better option then the obvious
Upon searching around the house, a backdoor can be found, unlocked. No sounds seem to escape from the inside of the home now, just simple stillness and silence creeping around the area, the calm after a storm.
It is time to make a decision wait for someone else to show up, perhaps Shelley will get his note and come hurrying though the others may get away in that case, or go in now alone without back up in a which at appearance is a very dangerous person's home. If it means the life of his friend he cannot wait and so he'll decide on the more dangerous route or possibly so. Graham's still moving careful though trying to open the door with as little noise as possible.
As Graham enters, he sees through the kitchen into the sitting room the figure who is still checking on the various bodies it seems. As he taps one with his foot, she lets out a small moan, he raises his wand and casts the Cannon Charm with a soft. "Bombarda." the force shooting out of his wand and caving in her skull, as he turns to tap another with his foot, the clear image of Thomas Carrow can be seen, the figure is him, wearing a all black suit and shirt, with an armband around his arm, that reads in bold white letters "MLF"
Graham is taken completely off guard at what he sees and hears the cannon spell brings back painful thoughts but now is not the time to go down that trail there is so much more to worry about. Thomas his friend right there murdering people. It is something he cannot have seen in his worst nightmares, but he refocuses his mind he cannot go to pieces this is a dangerous situation. He will only move until he can get a clear enough look a sharp point, and a wordless casting of the stunning spell.
Subtlety - thy name is not Irene Lee.
Having received an urgent letter begging her to prevent the loss of lives, Rena felt that she could not ignore the plea. She looked for Elijah, because he was on the case… to no avail. Arthur, Graham and Shelley - no luck there, either. In a split-second, the plucky little redhead ran by Worthington's office, dropping the letter on his poor Secretary's desk before running for the door. From there, she took the lift to the lobby and hopped into the nearest floo. Scarcely taking time to beat the soot from herself as she tumbled into the Leaky Cauldron, she then ran for the Diagon Alley exit and apparated from there to No. 29 - Umber Alley.
Oh, how Rena just loves the nauseous, dizzy feeling one gets from a good apparition. However, bearing up, she pauses outside of the eerily silent house to take stock of the situation. She attempts - and subsequently fails to cast the charm to reveal who (or what) might be secreted inside of the house. Blame it on the world spinning around her. At least she can edge up to the wall and put her ear to the door to listen.
Graham stands inside deciding his next step, while unaware that Rena is approaching or perhaps if she'd been approching at the same time as events unfolded, she may be alerted. The sound of the Cannon curse? If she's looking closely or is moving towards the building she may see even a flash of red light, a stunning spell?
Rena is startled… stunned into motionless silence when her eyes fall upon the scene of death laid out before her. The back of her hand goes to her lips, and she finally remembers to breathe again, drawing a sharp, frightened gasp. Staggering back, her body pushes the door shut behind her, making an alarmingly loud noise. She stays there for only a second or two before running forward toward Thomas on the ground. The armband - she notices it - but it's scarcely important right now. People are dead; Thomas is hurt, and none of this makes any sense.
Trembling, with her hand on the bookshop owner's chest, Rena nearly jumps out of her skin as Graham slips into view, stating that he doesn't know if there are more. "Graham…" she says thinly, looking utterly horrified. Unblinking, her eyes dart around the carnage and then return to the only man standing: "Graham," she says again, scarcely breathing once more as she slowly rises to her feet: "Wh-what have you done??"
Luke Carrow looks up at Rena entering, laying behind the podeum, he reaches his hand out towards her as to say, 'Help' as he gasps for breaths, two arrows stuck in his gut, as Rena says the words "Graham" the man by the podium recoils and looks at the direction she is talk and tries to crawl away, a look of terror in his eyes.
He watches her knowing the reaction from the scene wont be good but when she turns to him and looks afraid of him.. he hadnt expected that to say the least. Graham will shake his head "I havent done anything it.. was Thomas he used the cannon curse." he points to the woman who's head is likely worse for wear. "I stunned him, check his wand Prior Incantato." he speaks the spell though she likely knows it already. The young man glances to the other and cant help but be shocked though he'll stay put where he is until this is sorted.
Torn between Thomas' prone figure on the floor, lying voulnerable still, and Luke Carrow… Rena knows the choice she must make. Rushing to Luke's side, she drops down on her knees grasping her wand with a white-knuckle grip: "Mister Carrow! Stop moving, please!" she begs, furtively looking at Graham, holding up her arm defensively over the bleeding man. "I'm 'ere now. I'm 'ere - I won't let anything else 'appen. I'll get you 'elp - quick, like a mouse."
Her eyes dart toward Graham, and there is a good deal of fear, mistrust and disbelief behind them. He doesn't even acknowledge the terrified man she is trying to protect - a man seemingly mortified of the senior Auror. Check the wand while a man is bleeding to death? How callous can he expect her to be. There's such a thing as taking duty too far.
"It's just you - and it's just me," Rena says slowly. "Don't take this the wrong way… but get back," she then says, rasing her wand: "Get BACK! Please…" Never was she so frightened and miserable before in her life.
Word from Mungos to the MLE finally arrives and a squad of Hit Wizards come on scene, looking at the chaos and blood around them. It takes a few of them a moment to take in what happened. But they are quick to respond, many of them looking around, checking on people. Luke Carrow grabs onto Rena's clothes a look of relief in his eyes, before two Hit Wizards grab him, "We have one alive!" he says rushing off to get him to St. Mungos. The other Hit Wizards shake their heads, everyone else is gone, but Thomas that is.
Looking between Graham and Rena, one of them asks, "What happened here?" slowly shaking his head, "How did you guys get here… we just got word from St. Mungos there might have been an attack." he says slowly his face turned in a frown, looking at Thomas' MLF armband, those letters have been floating around the officer after all. The Hit Wizards go about containing the scene and allowing the Aurors to handle their part.
Graham is hurt on the inside and cannot help but show it on the outside, this is too much given all he's been through though he steps forward to likely disarm Thomas or something Rena's word sting all the more the fear in her face of him hurts in a way he's not felt but really one other time. He will recall the step forward and stow his wand in his sleeve. Its only as the rest show up that he can remove his glance and to them. "I received a letter, that was addressed from Thomas Carrow though it turned to dust after I had read it." he glances back to the room "When I got here, I saw.. saw the bodies on the floor, so I used the back entrance. I still cant believe it, but I saw Thomas use the cannon curse on that woman's head you can check his wand. I stunned him but too late, and then Auror Lee showed up shortly after."
Rena stands off to the side of this chaos, small, frightened and confused. With so many others present, she need not keep her wand at the ready any longer; and so she stands there, hugging her arms around herself as though she feels very, very cold. The smell of blood and death hang stagnant in the air… she's grown used to that smell lately. Is it ever gone from her nose?
Her back remains toward Graham as he explains his side of things. She doesn't turn around to face the others when they come to question her. "I was given a letter… you'll find it with Chief Worthington. I left it with the secretary. Saying that the Muggle Liberation Front was going to attack one of the Army of Truth meetings at this address. Time was short, and to please come as quickly as possible. I did so." There is a pained pause as she shifts on her feet and glances down at the floor. "I found the room full of dead bodies; Mister Thomas Carrow lying stunned on the floor, and Mister Luke Carrow, gravely wounded on the podium, there. Auror Cohen came out from the shadows, gesturing for me to stay quiet and saying that he didn't know if there were more."
He will turn away from the new arrival to listen to Rena's side of the story and really is trying to see it from her point of view but he's run down and feeling rather low himself at the moment. The young man knows he must speak further and now speaks to both. "Yes, I had disillusioned myself to make my entrance and I hadn't checked the human revealing spell to see if there could be more enemies in the house." he is really hoping this can be fixed adding these images to the ones he has is getting to be a bit much.
"One way or another, we'll get to the bottom of this," the investigation lead says crisply before moving away. All wands and personal effects have been taken into custody, and the scene of the crime has been largely contained. It will be a long time before it can be called "clean," however.
Graham and Rena are left more or less to themselves in relative quiet near back doorway as the other Ministry workers continue their jobs in earnest. Slowly, the young woman begins to release the grip she has on herself, gradually turning around. Everyone's nerves are ragged at this point, and maybe things aren't as they seem… but still, she cannot look Graham in the eye. "I don't know anything anymore, Graham." She says very simply, her voice strained and low. There is almost a sense of resignation behind it. Most people reach thirty or forty years of age before realizing that they don't know anything. Her time has come early.
Graham he will allow himself to be remove from the active part of the scene, but since he used his wand on someone paperwork is likely to be forthcoming. Not to mention statements and everything else and what to do about Thomas, he just saw the man bought books from him not the previous evening." he shakes the thoughts off turning to listen to Rena "I didn't believe you at your word and am asking you to do the same Rena." he says his voice shallow "Too much has happened and in too short a time, but not everyone can be an enemy, I trust you, please believe me I had no part in that back there." his voice trails off yep too many images.
For what seems like an eternity, Rena remains silent and unable to answer in any way. She went through training for all of this, it should have hardened her more. She's just too soft-hearted and easily swayed by emotion for her own good, in spite of her best efforts.
Strangely, when the young woman finds her voice again, she doesn't really reply to Graham. "You know," she says with a half smile, "Back when I was a little kid, long before I ever got the letter from 'Ogwarts, I would pretend I was a witch. I 'ad the job of sweeping the flat… and I'd ride around on the broom, pretending I could fly. Before the letter. Before school… even when I lived among the rats, the penniless and the filthy water running through the street gutters, I only saw beauty in things, and the fun to be 'ad from just imagining something different from what was around me." Stopping, her gaze finally meets with Graham: "This world of yours - the Wizarding world - it's supposed to be so much better. So much brighter. Magic…" an almost bitter laugh slips out, and she looks down at her wand.
"I never knew for sure until tonight that I was better off in Wapping, ignorant that this world ever existed."
He can really only hold his silence while he listens to her speak about the magical world. Graham does wear a small frown on his run down face though turning more towards her when she's finished "Rena, that's what makes you a good person and a good auror, you are able to see the good in most things, even when others cannot. We've picked a difficult job but for all the hardship we face now there are others who get to never see it and they keep that imagination alive." he is trying to help her despite needing help himself.
Having gotten that off her chest, Rena still has the look of someone on the very brink of throwing it all away and walking out. However, her sense of honor and duty remain strong enough to hold her steady. A stubborn-streak that happens to be a mile wide doesn't hurt matters any. Besides, something in Graham's words must be getting through - if only a little.
The young woman looks up at the other Auror with a far gentler gaze: "I'm sorry, Graham," she says softly. "Don't mind me. We're all a mess these days. I'm sure whatever 'appened out 'ere… the truth will come to light in the end. And everything will be alright." Her words are accompanied by a tired smile. Maybe she's just trying to make him feel better - it's hard to say. She meant what she said earlier when she said she didn't know the answers anymore. She doesn't know if he's done something dreadful or not. But, she's not going to pass judgement for certain, because it's not her place.
"Come on. We'd better 'ead back to the Ministry. Going to be another bloody all-nighter, probably."
Graham will nod taking the few steps towards the other so they can walk together "Probably so, and thanks Rena I am sure it will I cant believe about Thomas though." he shakes his head wearily unable to process all of that right now so he must try and block it until he can sift through all that has happened this evening. He'll walk along with the other if she will heading back for the ministry.