[Belarus] - Slaughter in Victory Park

Seeing the death eaters within the ward, Oz's mind started to swim with ideas and theories as to why they were present. Realistically he could just call it off as these two escaped to here after the wizarding war many years ago and have been in hiding since however this ward was something that would eventually be spotted by any witch and wizard if they spent a long time here. Even without his eyes activated he saw the wobble in the atmosphere as someone passed through it after all.

'Death eaters... Belarus... Another butterfly effect could be at play here...'.

One of the major changes Oz has enacted onto the canon of the world is telling Dumbledore about horcruxes early. This in turn lead to the early resurrection of the order. With this resurrection the prior order members plus some new ones that Dumbledore must have already had his eyes on as potential candidates for the order started to make moves around Britain again, mostly searching for the horcruxes Oz mentioned about.

If a death eater were to see these happenings they would immediately find it fishy, especially those with an actual brain on their heads. Maybe even Lucius Malfoy could have pieced the situation together as 'suspicious' considering an order that had been dead since their master was last around suddenly re-opened and made seemingly random moves. Most death eaters might write it off as the order just messing around with a task of their own however the more devout death eaters may start to think that the order is 'preparing' for something and the die-hard death eaters would be convinced that their master is going to be resurrected again soon.

With that information in mind, many death eaters around the world that the information had been funnelled to might be on the move once again, trying to match the orders movements and one of the main things the death eaters needed to do in order to go against the British wizarding community was to recruit ready for another war.

'If my theory is correct these two death eaters were given information via a source in Britain that let them know the order is resurrected. With that information and themselves being based in Belarus they could be trying to make contact with the giants earlier than even the order anticipated... It seems that order has a snake within it as well considering this information leaked rather quickly'.

Oz could make a confident guess on who that snake was however to him the information leak didn't matter. As a matter of fact having these two death eaters present might even give him a shortcut into finding where the giants reside and maybe even more about their mannerisms etc.

"Alfreda, we'll head towards that ward cloaked and ready. They'll have to leave the ward to apparate or go anywhere so best bet is just to wait for that... Follow my lead".

Alfreda nodded at her masters words as she also grabbed a small cloth wiping away the blood near Oz's eyes. Oz let Alfreda do what she wanted as reeling away and making a deal out of it would just be more bothersome. After being cleaned up the two headed within the foliage of Victory park, getting as close to the ward as possible while still remaining cloaked.

With some time to plan Oz started to think about how he would fight this battle especially with the limitation he's put on himself recently, not using his wand at all.

'Wandless spells take up far more magic... To place a ward to trap them and kill one of them would sap me of most of my magic instantly. Maybe a combination of magic and fighting is needed here instead... The Basilisk dagger should be a good form of intimidation at least'.

Thinking on the Basilisk dagger Oz made prior to his trip around the world he was also reminded of the Basilisk Bombs he made with the venom of the Basilisk. As much as he would love to just throw a bomb into the ward with the death eaters he needed at least one alive to answer questions.

With his plan finalised Oz and Alfreda laid in wait in the bushes waiting for the two to leave the ward. Occasionally Oz would strain his eyes a bit to see what they were doing and after an hour the two death eaters picked themselves up from their campfire and started to leave. Oz kept his eyes trained on them and as they stepped through the ward, Alfreda instantly locked eyes onto them as well now they were visible. The conversation the two were having prior seemed to continue as they walked through the ward.

" -The plan then is for me to recruit the giants and for you to reach out to our fellow death eaters around this area and band them together... If we could get Belarus under our thumb then that would work out even better for when the dark lord returns".

The other death eater nodded at the one given a run down of the situation. Turning around the death eater cancelled the ward in the area and the two seemed to nod towards each other before starting to apparate. Seeing this Oz reflexively stood up and casted a ward around the area, encompassing him and Alfreda along with the two death eaters.

"ARRGHHH!".

One of the death eaters was faster than the other in apparating and was already starting to apparate as Oz placed the ward blocking them in. With this sudden ward being placed, the death eater in question was splinched along his back. The other death eater who looked at his partner in shock darted his eyes around the area noticing the ward surrounding them now and called out.

"WHOSE THERE!? WHO BLOCKED US IN!?".

With that que Oz and Alfreda slowly walked out of the bushes towards the two death eaters. The one who wasn't splinched noticed them quickly and shot out a spell towards them. A green bolt shot towards Oz that screamed 'death' and just as it was about to arrive Oz augmented his speed so he could dodge it along with Alfreda.

"What the-".

The death eater who casted the spell seemed completely stunned by the rapid movements of the cloaked person in front of him. He casted that spell without warning after all. Just as he was about to voice his surprise though he felt his sentence cut off mid way through. For some reason he was now looking up at his body that had been beheaded.

The death eaters last thoughts before his brain ceased functioning was simply 'how'.

Oz stood opposite the beheaded body with his hand outstretched. He had casted a wandless 'diffindo' to behead the man cleanly. Whenever he was in this situation he always seemed to lean on 'simpler' spells like diffindo to kill his opponents. The death eater that was writhing on the ground splinched looked up at Oz in horror seeing his partner get beheaded so easily. Alongside that he remembered Oz's rapid movements in dodging the spell his partner had casted. In his state he felt as though death was only a matter of course.

Oz slowly walked over to the man on the floor who lifted his wand up pointing it at Oz. Before he could cast a spell however, Oz kicked the wand out of the mans hand sending it flying into the woods. He then reached his hand onto his waist and pulled out the Basilisk Fang he had fashioned into a dagger. Putting his knee on the mans chest he pointed the knife directly at the death eaters throat before talking.

"Unless you want to die a slow painful death then you better answer the questions following truthfully and clearly...".

The death eater who looked up at Oz started to see into his hood noticing that the person who had attacked them was only a boy of 14 years old. Seeing this the shock filling his body increased tenfold. Hearing those sorts of chilling words come out of a 14 year old boy made him instantly submit as he nodded his head slowly.

"Firstly, explain to me why a couple of death eaters would be acting so suspicious in a place like Minsk".

The death eater that Oz had under his knee seemed to still hesitate in answering Oz's questions. Seeing the death eater hesitate Oz pressed the dagger closer to the death eaters neck, a tiny bit more pressure and he'd break the death eaters skin.

"This blade here is made from a Basilisk's fang. Within it is Basilisk venom capable of destroying a persons soul in large doses. The amount in this fang wouldn't destroy your soul however it would tear it apart. I trust you understand how painful your soul being torn apart would be?".

The death eaters eyes seemed to show extreme panic as Oz explained what the dagger he was wielding was. Slowly the death eater started to speak.

"W-we ran off to Minsk after the first wizarding war... W-we've been in hiding since".

Oz smiled as the dagger he placed on the death eaters neck lifted ever so slightly, telling the death eater that his answer was satisfactory.

"That certainly makes sense... Next question, What's this about recruiting giants? Gathering death eaters around Minsk into a group? Care to explain these points?".

The death eater realised at this point that the young boy in front of him had been stalking him and his partner since they stepped out the ward as he heard these points. He gulped as he began to explain, his eyes still trained onto the dagger in Oz's hand.

"I-In Britain the order that once went against us started to make moves again... We surmised that they were making moves as the dark lord is going to return soon. As a way to show our d-devotion we wanted to recruit the giants and band together the death eaters in the area prepared for the dark lords descent unto the world again...".

"The order in Britain making moves hmm... Where did you hear such information?".

The death eater hesitated again as Oz questioned him however the second he hesitate Oz started to lower the dagger again towards his neck. Immediately seeing this he started to speak.

"O-One of the death eater parties within Britain notified us telling us they got their source about the orders revival through an underworld wizard. They paid him a pretty penny for it as he asked for a high price".

"Any clue who this 'underworld wizard' is?".

"T-They didn't tell me his name... He's apparently close to the order though! Maybe even within it!".

Hearing this death eaters explanation Oz realised his guesses were probably on the money. There was only one order member that would sell his soul and pride for money. That order member also saw the order as an impenetrable fortress so to him selling information like this was basically getting free money.

'Mundungus Fletcher... One little rat managed to cause an effect across the entire world reviving the death eaters'.

"Onto the next question. You talk of recruiting giants correct? Where exactly are these giants you want to recruit and how were you planning to recruit them? If you leave out any information I believe you know what I'll do...".

Oz started to lower the dagger to the panicking death eaters neck again as he blurted out everything he knew.

"T-The giants are based in a ward north of Usad'ba Grebnitskikh... A historical landmark north-east of here. If you go to the landmark you'll be able to see their ward on the horizon buried within a field of trees. T-They have a village there, a settlement within where they live and fight. Our plan to recruit them was to overpower their 'prodigy' as a show of strength. Giants only follow strength after all".

'Usad'ba Grebnitskikh... overpower their 'prodigy'... Seems each species has their quirks'.

"To overpower a giant you would need some strength... What exactly was your plan?".

"M-My partner, he managed to get us a potion that would increase physical capabilities for a short period. With that potion we'd overpower the giants".

Hearing about the potion Oz started to contemplate. From what he had heard about a giants sheer strength a simple potion would not be enough to overcome it. This potion was either going to be too weak or too dangerous in order to match a giants strength.

"Why do you need to overpower then with physical strength? Surely you can just use magic?".

"T-The giants there loathe magic. If you use magic to beat them you'd be creating an enemy not an ally. Physical strength is of the utmost importance to their kind, even if you aren't their kind and show a high degree of physical strength you'd be welcomed as a friend. If you beat their 'prodigy' you'd be allowed to ally with them, even have them serve under you if you overwhelm them fully. They only follow strength after all. Even if you were to kill one of their kind in a physical fight they wouldn't bat an eye, simply congratulating the winner of the fight".

"It seems you've done a lot of research in order to recruit these beasts...".

Taking in all the information he had learnt about giants Oz realised now that in order to cleanly get materials from them he'd need to overpower them in a physical fight. If he was anyone else then such a feat would be impossible without a potion or some sort of outside influence. However Oz had his dragon-like physique that was much more denser than any normal witch or wizards. Along with that he could augment his strength with magic if needed. Since the magic was internal, the giants would probably give it a pass. Even though there was no guarantee to all this though Oz liked the sound of a new challenge even if it meant he had to throw down with a giant.

"We'll you've answered all my questions correctly. I'll send you off quickly and quietly".

"W-W-Wa-".

Before the death eater could finish his sentence, Oz pressed his finger to the death eaters neck and casted a wandless diffindo. As he questioned the man his magic reserves replenished enough to use this spell again. As the spell was casted, a line appeared on the death eaters neck and a second later his head was separated from his body. Oz stood up brushing off the dust on him seemingly unfazed by the bloody scene. As he turned to Alfreda however, she seemed to be turning blue at the gruesome scene before her.

'I guess that was too much for her...'.

Oz walked over slowly to Alfreda and gave her a pat on the shoulder.

"Are you okay?".

Alfreda nodded at her master trying to hide her emotions as best as possible. She was an elf, a royal elf at that, that had grown up surrounded by love and family. She might have been abandoned by Merlin however she spent all that time abandoned locked away in the hideout. This was one of the first times in her long life she had seen such a scene that was so gruesome and brutal.

"Master... If im correct you're only 14 years old in human years. H-How are you okay with all of this?".

Hearing Alfreda's question Oz looked at the two bodies on the floor that had been beheaded. Just recently these two bodies were talking and now they laid dead on the floor. Even knowing that, Oz felt nothing.

"I guess its part of the blood within me to calm me down from such events. Granted even before this blood activated I've never really had much emotion towards situations such as these...".

Back when Oz saved Rose from the basement of Voldemort sympathisers, he had enacted cruelty of this level back then as well without batting an eye. He remembered that the newspapers that came out around that time described the brutal justice as 'chilling'. That brutal-ness happened even before he enacted the Animagus ritual that was hijacked by his dragons blood so he cant say that the calm he felt in the situation was due to his dragons blood.

Oz's only guess towards his 'calmness' towards killing and death was that he had died once. After dying himself and experiencing a life after death he didn't feel as bad sending people on their way. Granted he was lucky and one of few who managed to weather the void allowing him to have this second life yet knowing that void existed for those who passed on and they would eventually be put back into the world one way or another made killing seem less cruel to him. It was a reasoning towards life and death that no other person in this world or maybe even any world could grasp.

Only Oz alone would have these feelings and nobody could ever understand them.

=================

A/N - For updates on chapter releases and a place to talk about the novel/anything please join the discord :)

Discord: https://discord.gg/d8cQH7DB

For those interested a new auxiliary chapter was made where it describes each 'Non-Canon' character I've made alongside a picture for reference of what that character might look like.