FIGHTING A LOSING BATTLE

Bellatrix's eyes widened in surprise. Ryan want her to cut off her own arm? Without hesitation, she pulled out her wand and cast a severing spell on her right forearm. With a spray of blood, her right arm fell on the floor. Bellatrix fell on her knees, clutching her bleeding stump. Ryan smiled as he looked at Bellatrix's pained expression. He squatted beside her and touched her severed arm with his wand. The black misty energy once again enveloped the severed limb, and a moment later, the arm regenerated.

"Oh! Master, you are amazing!" Bellatrix exclaimed as she tried her newly grown arm.

Ryan picked up her severed arm, still twitching due to the nerve reflex, and placed his wand on the dark mark. With a little focus, the mark turned to black smoke, which entered his wand. He absorbed the mark into his body, converting all the dark magic into his own.

"Now, you are free from his clutches. No more dark mark," He threw the severed arm behind him and looked at Bellatrix with a devilish grin, "But, Bellatrix, if you betray me, I'll cut off both your arms and legs, leaving you alive just like the mudbloods you tortured for fun. And you know what would happen next, right?"

Bellatrix looked at Ryan with fear and excitement, 'Yes, master. I'll never betray you." She lowered her head.

Edgar watched the whole scene with shock. Bellatrix betrayed the Dark Lord and joined Ryan. Who is this guy? What did he show her that made her change sides in the blink of an eye? What kind of magic did he use to erase the dark mark and regenerate her arms? Too many questions, yet no answers.

"Who are you?" Edgar asked Ryan.

"Crucio!" Bellatrix cast the torture curse on Edgar with a flick of her wand. He screamed in pain on the ground, "How dare a lowly mudblood look eye to eye with my master!" She yelled at Edgar with a mad look on her face. Her curly long hair fluttered in the air. She pressed Edgar, making him scream in agony and pain.

"Argggg! STOP IT!" Edgar cried out. He felt as if every bone and tendon in his body were being torn apart. The splitting headache almost made him faint.

"Stop!" Ryan commanded.

Bellatrix immediately ended the curse.

"Hey, it's no time to sleep. Look at me," Ryan patted his cheek. Edgar opened his eyes weakly, looking at Ryan. He noticed that Bellatrix was now standing behind Ryan with a submissive look.

"Your name is Edgar Bones, right? I'm Ryan Lance," He asked. Edgar nodded weakly. "Now, Edgar, I'm sure you got a family and children, right? Now, cooperate with us and I promise to let you live. I'll also make sure all the members of the Order survive, all you have to do is tell me where that motherfucker ministry head is hiding."

"Arggg! You... You think... I'll betray my own people just so I could live?" Edgar spat out a mouthful of blood.

"Yes, you will. I know you're a loyal member of the Order of Phoenix. You will choose the lives of your wife, kids, and the Order over the ministry head. You see I've no enmity with the Order, but ministry, that's another matter. You know what they did to me? They pinned multiple murder cases on my head and sent me to Azkaban to rot. Now, I wonder... Why would they do that? Why would the ministry join hands with Lucius Malfoy? Makes you wonder, huh? Which side is which? Good or evil?" Ryan asked Edgar rhetorically.

"Wait! I know that name, Ryan Lance, yes, the one who murdered Abraxas Malfoy and many other officials, but your face! The last I heard was he died in Azkaban. But how?! And the ministry is working with the Malfoy family? What nonsense are you spewing?" Edgar was confused. He looked at Bellatrix, who only sneered at him.

"Ah! You don't know? Hahahaha! No wonder Voldemort is kicking your asses. You think an attack of this size could be arranged just overnight? The death eaters and dark wizards couldn't have gained access of their own, right? They needed help. You know who helped them? The ministry itself. Lucius Malfoy is working with the Ministry of Magic. Together they framed me for murders they committed. All these skirmishes right now are just to drag Dumbledore out of Hogwarts while Voldemort captures the school. But I came here instead of him," Ryan revealed the truth as he looked at Bellatrix.

"Tell him the truth. I'm sure you got an idea of how they infiltrated the ministry with such ease."

Bellatrix nodded obediently, "Lucius Malfoy bought off several key officials in the ministry and promised them a place in the new order once the dark lord wins this war. The attack on the ministry was easy because some of those high-ranking officials betrayed the minister and allowed the death eaters inside. Most of the Aurors stationed here died because of betrayal from within."

"You... This is impossible... How do I know if you are not lying?" Edgar couldn't believe Bellatrix's words.

"Isn't it very simple? Take us to the head of the ministry, and ask her yourself," Ryan answered with a smile.

Edgar looked at Bellatrix, who had a mad grin on her face. She looked different than before. Gone was the arrogant woman who tortured him for fun. She now looked subservient to Ryan Lance. Edgar sighed inwardly, he felt helpless.

Bellatrix is a crazy sadist who tortured him just for fun and this man wants to kill the ministry head, and if he refuses to agree to their demands, they will kill him and probably the rest of the survivors. But what if they are telling the truth? This sudden attack of this scale doesn't make any sense. Someone betrayed the ministry from within, allowing the death eaters to enter, and if Bellatrix is telling the truth, then that traitor is none other than the ministry head herself.

Ryan saw the conflict in Edgar's eyes.

"Edgar, think carefully about this. I'm giving you a chance to save your family, friends, and the Order members. Make your decision carefully. Oh, and I promise to kill every single death eater and dark wizard present inside the ministry. No one will escape. So, on one hand, you just have to give up one single traitor and save everyone else, or you can refuse, and I'll leave you and Bellatrix here while I go after the ministry head. It's your choice."

Edgar gritted his teeth as he struggled with his thoughts, 'I must get out of here and let Dumbledore know about this situation. This man might just become the next dark lord. We must prepare for the worst.'

"You'll let the Order go?" He asked Ryan.

"Of course. I got no enmity with the Order. I even helped defend Hogwarts from the attack and Dumbledore himself sent me to help. Now, you might think I'm a bad person, but here's the thing. You people think you are in the right here, you are right in your place, Voldemort thinks only pure blood should rule, he is right in his place, both sides are right in their places. However, the ministry betrayed me, framed me for crimes they committed. What is right and wrong here? I was just defending myself, but they labeled me a murderer. So, how am I the bad guy if I want my revenge?" Ryan said as he stretched his arms.

"This world is cruel, Edgar. Right and Wrong? In this war, there are no rights and wrongs, only winners and losers. If you refuse, you'll lose and die here, if you agree, you win and live. So, ten seconds. Decide."

Bellatrix aimed her wand at Edgar with a sinister smile. She was ready to kill him in case he refused to give up the information.

Edgar closed his eyes and made his decision, "Fine! I agree. I'll take you to the ministry."

.

Remus Lupin, Alice Longbottom, and ten wizards were defending the top floor. They were barely maintaining the protective shield. The dark wizards continued to assault them with curses nonstop. Remus recognized some of these wizards. They used to work in the ministry and were among the highest-ranking officials.

"Alice, is the Floo Network still not responding?" Lupin asked Alice.

"No. something is jamming the connection. The wards protecting the ministry are still active too. Even the Anti apparition wards are activated," She replied as she focused on finding a way to break the thing jamming the connection. "But to think there were this many traitors among us. Dumbledore was right. The ministry has been infiltrated by Death Eaters, and we never noticed anything."

"Argg! Guys, the barrier is weakening. We can't hold for much longer," One of the wizards informed them.

The blue protective charm was slowly cracking. The wizards were already too exhausted and their speed of continuously repairing the barrier was slower than the cracks appearing on it.

"Guys, try to maintain the barrier as long as possible. I'm sure Dumbledore will send reinforcement. We just need to hold it a bit longer," Lupin tried to encourage the wizards.

"Argg! They are attacking again!"

Suddenly, the protective charm shattered, and the dark wizards outside started attacking them again.

"Stupefy !" Lupin's spell hit one of the dark wizards in the chest, throwing him back.

"Petrificus Totalus!" Alice froze another dark wizard, stopping him midway.

"Confringo!" Another wizard blasted the guy away along with a couple of other dark wizards.

"Reducto!" One of the dark wizards aimed at the ceiling.

BOOM!

Large chunks of stone fell from the ceiling and crushed the wizards below.

"Accio!"

Alice and Lupin pulled the falling chunks of stone toward themselves before blasting them toward the enemies... "Depulso!"

"Expulso!"

The enemies instantly casted the Expulso spell. Barrages of blue magic bolts blasted the oncoming chunks of rocks away from them.

"Give up! You can not win!"

The death eaters and their minions started crowding in and breaking through their defenses.

"Get back!" Lupin pushed Alice and some of their men.

"Crucio! Stupefy! Impediment!"

"Deprimo!"

Spells and curses flew like fireworks...

The battle for survival reached its peak...

****

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