67 Regret Of the Weak
DISCLAIMER - Has some tourture scenes, skip of you don't want to read that.
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Last chapter - Bella POV
I was enjoying this party until someone threw a curse towards Cissy, who was sitting beside me.
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[Flashback 30 minutes ago]
"How dare he!" shouted Lord Avery at Lord Flint, who was equally enraged at Heir Peverell's actions. He had disrespected their families by ignoring their views and walking away.
This was a formal meeting, and the world was already tense due to the revelation of Voldemort being alive. Peverell's attitude made them lose their composure.
"Calm down, Avery. You know we can't do anything here," said Flint. It was House Greengrass's manor; taking action here might be seen as disrespect to Lady Greengrass.
"Oh, you think I am afraid of the Greengrass bitch, Flint? I received a letter from Greyback. He wouldn't mind razing this house," Avery revealed, surprising all the lords present—Nott, Macmillan, Flint, Travers, and Rosier. They all knew who Greyback was.
Seeing their surprised faces, Avery grinned and continued, "Parkinson's disappearance gave me the idea to contact that bloody werewolf. As long as we satiate his lust and hunger, he and his pups would protect us and serve us."
"But is making enemies of two noble houses justified?" said Lord Rosier, making a valid point.
"And let that bastard raze over the legacies of our great families? He has to pay for such disrespect!" roared Avery.
"We can discuss this elsewhere, Avery. You're attracting attention," said Lord Travers, looking around to see Lady Travers glancing at him.
"Travers is right, not here, Avery," replied Nott sternly. "If you want revenge, we can take it at Hogsmeade or at Diagon Alley."
Hearing their response, Avery laughed maniacally. By this point, they had used charms to ensure no one heard their conversation.
"YOU COWARDS! You represent the great houses, pure blood runs through your veins. That 13-year-old brat spat on our faces, and you're still considering which place is right or wrong! Pathetic mudbloods take revenge better than you!"
"Careful with your words, Avery," warned Flint, with many nods of agreement.
"So, what have you planned?" asked Nott, with a calculating gaze, while others were confused. Avery grinned and said, "As expected, Nott, you catch up quickly."
Avery looked at them and said, "You thought I would act without planning? They are here—a hit wizard team I have hired for my family's protection. About the political stands, we are not going to use Unforgivables. Use Lethal dark magic Instead, maximum would be 5 years in Azkaban, but we won't go there."
"How?" asked Macmillan, eager for some action.
"I have made a deal with Fudge, an unbreakable Vow, as I don't trust that idiot. He desperately wants to become Minister of Magic, but he couldn't after that humiliation. So now, after receiving the news of the Dark Lord being alive, he wants to join us. You feel it too, right? Power is shifting; he will come back," said Avery, showing them his dark mark.
They all flinched, realizing the truth of his words. They wanted to deny him, but they knew he was stating the truth—after all, all lords standing there had the same mark.
"How many wizards?" asked Nott.
"Forty."
"Wards?" Nott inquired.
"They've got seven that specialize in ward-breaking," replied Avery with a smug grin.
The others were surprised. "Is Avery planning another war?" was their collective thought. Everyone thought Avery was losing himself to his emotions, but nobody knew how prepared he was to face an unknown enemy. Parkinson was really close to Avery; he had spent a lot of money to ensure his safety. He was sure that even Dumbledore would find trouble threatening him right now. He wasn't afraid of political backlash, as he had already made arrangements.
'I never expected this to happen, but I might as well let myself loose. I've been too passive; people have forgotten that I was one of the best combatants of this generation. Peverell will suffer today,' thought Avery.
"But he is just a 13-year-old. Why are you so anxious? He might have made some name in Hogwarts, so what? He is just an arrogant boy. We don't need them to fight him. Just break the wards so Greengrass would not be able to do anything. Hmm, no, you know what? Let them enter and restrain others too, but make sure they don't kill, alright? We might find trouble if they do," said Nott.
Others nodded in agreement. They all felt quite excited. They wanted him to grovel at their feet and pay for the humiliation they felt tenfold.
"So, who is going to do the honors?" asked Rosier. They looked at each other's faces and turned towards Avery, who arrogantly nodded and said, "Alright, I will do it. Wait for a few minutes, as I've already told them to destroy the wards."
After a few minutes, he got the green light from the ward breakers. Greengrass's house had relatively weak wards, as the house was not really well-off in prior generations. The wards were old but lethal, but nothing new for ward breakers. They found vulnerabilities in the runes and enchantments and exploited them.
"Look at him, dancing with all those bitches. I'll have the black one," said Flint.
"Heh, are you even capable of that, Flint?" said Travers as the rest laughed.
"That Malfoy bitch was the one right, because of her he disrespected us! First, let me make her incapable of fighting. Others are easy. That traitor Andromeda is here, so Rosier, you will fight her. Bones is here too, Traverse and Nott, hold her back. Hit wizards will handle the rest, but again don't kill anyone. Only Peverell dies, but after humiliating him. Clear?" said Avery.
All of them nodded and stood up, ready to cast some spells.
First was Avery, who launched a blood-boiling curse at Narcissa Ashwood.
[Flashback end]
[Present, Third Person POV]
The spell stopped as a magic wall emerged from Narcissa's ring, protecting her. Avery was surprised but composed himself.
"Maybe an artifact from the Black House, but it won't protect her forever," he thought.
The music stopped, leaving pure silence in the hall until Lady Greengrass shouted at Avery, "What is the meaning of this, Lord Avery? Get out of the manor right now!"
Avery grinned at her and said, "I apologize, Lady Greengrass, for doing this here, but I'm afraid I have to take action towards the disrespect Heir Peverell showed us."
Lady Greengrass was enraged and tried connecting with the wards, but she got terrified as she felt no connection to them.
Seeing her horrified face, Avery smiled and said, "Oh, Lady Greengrass, no wards, right? Now, move to the side. I have some unfinished business. Oh, sorry, I mean we have some unfinished business." By now, everyone had realized that Lord Travers, Rosier, Nott, Flint, and Macmillan were with Avery.
Suddenly, someone laughed, a maniacal laughter. Everyone was stunned to see Heir Peverell wipe a tear from his eyes due to excessive laughing. Why? Everyone thought.
The Hit Wizards immobilized Sirius Black, and Rosier petrified Amelia Bones easily, as she was not in her best shape.
Agustus ignored all of this and smiled looking at Avery, but his eyes were not smiling.
Suddenly, a blue bird apparated and landed on his shoulder, as Skadi sensed his anger. The bird looked around as she got ready to burn everyone except family.
But he patted her and stopped her, as he believes mistakes must happen only once. It was time for the wizarding world to know what terror means. Voldemort was a deranged, weak, pathetic bastard. Let's make them see their deaths from their own eyes.
[POV end]
[Sirius Black POV]
I was frozen; those bastards had used the Petrificus Totalus spell on me. I couldn't move, and Harry was beside me, equally helpless.
I watched Heir Peverell flick his fingers, causing the hit wizards' hands to disappear.
"So, you were saying we had unfinished business, Lord Avery?" he said to Avery, who flinched, looking at the wailing wizards on the floor. All of them were shaking and screaming due to pain of loosing hands.
I knew that feeling. I had lost composure in that meeting, and trying to attack him, that was the closest I came to death. And I'm the guy who lived with dementors for years, so that's saying something.
"How?" stammered Avery.
How indeed. I've been asking myself the same question every day. Tell me if you find out, but I don't think he's leaving the manor alive today.
"Wouldn't you want to know, Avery?" He slowly walked towards him, the latter unable to move, sweating buckets.
"Avery, do you know why I just left you? Why I didn't give you any respect and just ignored you? Do you want to know?"
He didn't say anything. His body shook, and the lords beside him were no better; they all fell to their knees as Peverell stood in front of them.
Peverell looked at them, spat on Avery's face, and said, "Because you're nothing." He kicked him in the face, blood visible on Avery's lips.
"I don't even see you as a person, as human. To me, you are less than an animal." He took Avery's hand and broke two of his fingers.
"Ahhhhhh!" wailed Avery, his screams chilling. Some lords beside him wet their robes as the floor near them became wet.
"Sigh, why is it everytime, it's like dejavu, the boy during my first year too though he could just bully me cause he had power, but cried like a bitch after I showed him his place. Honestly why are you week things so full of yourself"
"And a being like you had the audacity to try to hurt my family. You'll have to be punished for that."
He took out his wand and used an unknown spell, one entirely dark.
This time, Avery couldn't even scream. He was wailing, blood seemed to be coming out of his mouth, his throat certainly torn, his hands and legs swollen as his fingers burst open. He was like a balloon about to pop any second.
"Stop this madness, Heir Peverell, or I might have to arrest you," shouted Amelia Bones, who had freed herself. Why couldn't this woman shut up?
Peverell glanced at her coldly as she fell unconscious. What did he do to her?
As if sensing my emotions, he said, "Just unconscious," and I nodded at him, saying, "Thank you." He looked away from me.
"So, Avery, any final words?" he asked with an innocent smile. Honestly, I'm more terrified of him than Voldemort.
I could see the heirs who had soiled their pants; some were silently crying. Only the Greengrass girls were sleeping, and my niece, Dora, was also unconscious. I guess he protected them from witnessing this.
I could see the Malfoys sitting at a table. The little one had closed his eyes but was shivering due to the screams.
Avery couldn't even say anything in that condition. He was going unconscious when the boy healed him to perfect condition. Shit, I would kill myself rather than offend him.
Avery, who was dying few seconds ago, looked at his perfect condition and glanced at Peverell's smile, then started to beg for forgiveness.
"IT WASN'T ME, I swear. They wanted revenge. Please forgive me. I can give you anything. Please."
"Come on, Lord Avery, we're just getting started. Let's play a few more times."
Next, what I saw was something I won't forget. The ladies had closed their eyes and put their hands on their ears so they wouldn't hear anything, but it was fruitless. Screams were too loud to be stopped by shaking hands.
The boy took Avery's wand, broke it in the middle, and inserted it into both his eyes, using only magic.
For an entire hour, Avery's screams echoed in the Greengrass Manor. The boy broke him and healed him, only to break him again.
"Kill me, you monster!" roared Avery, wanting nothing more than a painless death.
The other lords were not doing any better; all of them were crying.
"Oh no, Lord Avery, I am not a killer. Why would I do that? You are an important member of this society. I can't even think of doing that."
This!
Avery just cried at the top of his lungs, and I mentally thanked my grandfather for saving me for the nth time from this demon.
Seeing Avery crying, he laughed and went back to Narcissa; he kissed her as she hugged him, and Andy also joined them.
An unknown girl who looked like Bella also joined them. Wait, she's Bella!
You know what? I would ignore that. Hell, I would not approach him until he wants me to. I am way too traumatized to ask him anything about her.
They broke the hug, and the boy sat down at the table. Finally, this was finished.
Oh, I spoke too soon. He tortured them for another hour, this time all of them. It seemed they were not hearing all the screams, as Bella and Narcissa were laughing and talking to him while Andy just listened. But here, all others were listening to the soul-chilling screams of the lords of pureblood families.
I had heard of Voldemort using Crucio on his subordinates, but seeing this made me shiver more.
After that, he healed them to perfect condition and walked in front of them, saying, "Don't make a scene here again. Leave the party."
So, he left them alive? Is he feeling generous today?
"Nothing happened. Forget everything. If someone mentions this to Dora and Astoria or Daphne, I will find them," he said, looking at everyone, as all 200 people nodded at him, all the hit wizards disappear as dust, did he just kill them all?
The party resumed, but it didn't last very long due to the depressing atmosphere. The band left early, and all the lords and ladies, including Harry, who looked traumatized, left the hall. I would have to make sure he doesn't do anything stupid to anger peverell.
I left the hall without greeting Cissy, Bella, or Andy.
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The next day, I woke up and saw the headline of the Daily Prophet:
"LORDS OF PUREBLOOD FAMILIES KILLED THEMSELVES AT THEIR HOMES."
I could only sigh. He just wanted to avoid killing them in front of witnesses. The most he gets is a fine, as he was retaliating; the other party initiated an illegal attack on him and his allies.
[POV end]
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2500 words, longest chapter I've ever written, some powerstones will help thankyou.
Seeya tomorrow.
