The entire street had fallen silent as soon as the Death Eaters apparated away. The sound of the severed hand striking the ground was the last sound that had echoed in the street.
The situation was tense, and the atmosphere had grown heavy.
Everyone had locked themselves inside their shops and houses and despite things having come to a closure, no one dared to step out.
The most courageous among them showed only enough bravery to peek out from their windows or some other small opening in their homes.
Antonio's mind still had not cooled from the rage he had been feeling when he sensed another disturbance in space. His hands tightened around his wand as he prepared himself.
The space distorted, and a group of individuals emerged from it. Not Death Eaters. Aurors. They all had extreme caution plastered on their face with wands ready in their hands.
Antonio's grip on his wand loosened slightly, but his focus did not waver. Aurors did not really mean good news. At least, not for him, who did not have much connection or influence.
There were eight Aurors in total. He recognized two of them. Two legendary figures. Alastor Moody and Amelia Bones.
Alastor Moody was nothing like he would be in a few years. Both his legs seemed perfectly fine. He still had both eyes intact. Except for a small scar on his face, there was nothing unusual or frightening about him.
Amelia Bones was beautiful. Even in this situation, Antonio had to take a moment to appreciate her beauty. Dressed in the auror uniform with her red hair, she looked stunning.
The moment the Aurors appeared on the street, their eyes fell on the two corpses on the ground and the severed hand. In this time period, unlike the era of Harry Potter, Aurors were generally better trained and more experienced than the average wizard, and almost all of them were accustomed to the brutalities of war. To gore, bloodshed, and dead bodies.
But the scene before them was too much even for them. The corpse hanging between the two drills with a puddle of blood formed beneath it. A man split into two with his organs having spilled out from his body. And a severed hand.
Bile rose in the throats of a few Aurors, particularly those who were less experienced.
"Keep your wand pointed down, lad," said Alastor Moody, trying to take charge of the situation. "And very gently place it on the ground."
Antonio was still livid, still seething with rage.
"Keep my wand on the ground?" he scorned. "If I had wanted, I could have already skewered you all."
Alastor narrowed his eyes but did not respond immediately.
"Any other force," he said, confusing the Aurors, "as soon as they arrived at the scene of the crime, what would they have done?"
"They would have immediately searched for clues and looked for the culprit who had escaped. But no. What does our great Auror force do?"
"They are too frightened to pursue the attackers, too scared even to speak the names of those involved. So, what do they do instead?"
"They try to threaten an innocent person. Someone who has just acted in self-defence."
"So that next time those fucking Death Eaters," everyone flinched at his sudden, loud voice, "attack him, he worries more about the Aurors than the Death Eaters."
"After all, 'keep your wand on the ground gently' is all they can manage to fuck out of their mouths."
There was pin drop silence after his sudden outburst.
"Brat," one of the older aurors sneered with his wand pointed towards Antonio. "Keep your wand down. And you will be coming with us to the ministry."
"Try me," Antonio gave an evil grin. A grin which clearly warned them of dire consequences.
"Lad," Alastor intervened. His voice was polite but firm.
"I understand your feelings," he said. "And I even applaud the way you acted to defend yourself. But there are protocols me must follow."
"I might have acted lenient," he continued.
"But situation here does not allow me such leeway," he said gesturing toward the two corpses.
"I ask you to place your wand on the ground and then follow us to the ministry. I promise you that justice will be served to you."
Antonio narrowed his eyes but there was not even an iota of hesitation on his face.
"I said, if you want to take me to the ministry, try it," he spat. "I doubt that you all will prove to be a better wizard than these fucking death eaters."
Alastor clenched his fist in frustration. He knew the man in front of him would not be convinced. And he did not want to resort to violence especially not when he was not even sure if his team could apprehend this man at all. Let alone capture him, he was not certain they would even come out unscathed and alive.
"Listen…" he tried once more, "think this through carefully."
"While you may force us to retreat this time," Alastor explained, "the Ministry is not going to sit idle. They will never leave you alone. They will come for you even harder."
"So, I suggest you come with us," he said. "Unless you want to spend your entire life as a fugitive, running and hiding from place to place."
Antonio narrowed his eyes. What Moody had said made sense, but he was not going to agree. He knew very well that had it been some other lord, the Aurors would not have dared even to summon them to the Ministry.
He was about to reject the idea once more when Amelia stepped forward. She seemed calm, confident, and measured in her manner.
"Lord Olario," she said and Antonio was surprised that she knew who he was. "Sir Moody."
Now, she had the attention of the entire street, even those watching from their windows.
"I have an alternative," she said. "And I believe it is something we can all agree on without much trouble."
"What alternative?" Alastor asked, interested, while Antonio too remained curious.
"I suggest that, considering Lord Olario acted in self-defense, we allow him to keep his wand," she continued.
Moody raised his eyebrows, while a few of the Aurors looked as though they had swallowed a lemon.
"And in return, we can expect Lord Olario to come with us to the Ministry not as a culprit in our custody, but as a witness and victim of this incident. We can record his statement at the Ministry, and he can then return. Whatever follows will be decided at a hearing of the Wizengamot, which Lord Olario would be required to attend."
"What are you even saying Amelia?" One of the auror barked. "He has committed a murder. A crime. We must arrest him and place him in the ministry cell."
"Silence," Alastor's loud voice shut him and every other auror who was going to give their opinions. Few dared to oppose what Moody said.
"What do you think of this agreement, Lord Olario?" He questioned.
Antonio nodded, "I agree as long as you would be keeping your words."
Moody nodded, "We do not renege on our words."
He produced a handkerchief from his pocket, "Portkey to ministry. You and I will use this."
Antonio nodded as he moved and held one end of the handkerchief.
"Amelia, assign a couple of them to clean up and collect every evidence from this site and meet me at the ministry," Moody said.
Alastor muttered the password and the duo vanished with a twist of space.
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