The first explosion sounded almost festive.
A bloom of orange light beyond the outer walls of the stadium.
A cheer rose instinctively from a few lingering fans who mistook it for another firework.
Then the second blast hit.
Not skyward.
Sideways.
A row of Ministry tents erupted into splinters and flame.
The cheering died.
Screaming replaced it.
Cassius did not flinch.
He was already moving.
"Now," he said sharply.
The girls dropped their celebratory composure instantly.
Robes shifted, glamour charms dissolving to reveal reinforced layers beneath.
Wands slid into waiting hands with practiced precision.
Beyond the stadium grounds, the campgrounds had become chaotic.
Dozens of figures in black robes strode through the rising smoke—skull masks gleaming pale in firelight, tall pointed hoods casting jagged silhouettes against the blaze.
Laughter that had once filled the night air was replaced with screams of terror.
Tents were being lit on fire and burnt down one after another, thousands of fans began racing left and right attempting to flee from the incoming dark forces.
The Death Eaters had come prepared.
But they had not anticipated this version of the world.
From three separate exits of the stadium, cloaked figures bearing the sigil of the Arcanum stepped into the inferno.
Wizards and witches who had trained not for bureaucratic containment—but for the coming war.
The first Killing Curse flashed green toward a fleeing family.
It never landed.
The worst curse known to most the world was blocked, and not by another spell, but simply by a levitated rock which was cast between the target and the wave of green spellwork.
An Arcanum witch countered instantly, her wand carving a precise arc.
"Excidium."
The spell that answered was not green.
It was white.
Blinding.
Compressed.
It struck the masked Death Eater center mass.
There was no dramatic scream.
No theatrical fall.
The body simply collapsed, smoke rising faintly from the robes.
Dead before hitting the ground.
The surrounding Death Eaters froze at the sight.
This was not the Ministry scrambling in confusion as they had expected.
Nor was it the typical forces of light which refrained from killing if at all possible.
No... instead this was organized resistance.
Cassius stepped into the fray, both wands in hand.
A masked figure raised his wand toward him.
"Avada—"
Cassius's response was instantaneous.
"Terminus."
A razor-thin lance of violet light split the air.
The Killing Curse fizzled mid-incantation as the Death Eater's mask shattered, the force snapping his head backward with lethal finality.
Two more fell to the Arcanum flank, struck by variations of unfamiliar curses—spells designed not to torture, not to maim—
But to end and without the need for dark magic like Avadakadavra to achieve the same result.
The Death Eaters recoiled.
They had come expecting terror.
The perfect stage to make a reemerging statement to spread word of their movements ressurection, which would in turn bolster the recruitment of wands to their cause.
Instead, they found professional dark wizard hunters.
Across the field, Ministry officials finally began to regroup, shouting contradictory orders while attempting to form defensive lines.
Aurors scrambled, some managing competent shields, others still disoriented from celebration wine and the shock of sudden violence.
Another explosion exploded on that side of the field.
Fire leapt high into the night sky.
Cassius pivoted as a trio of Death Eaters attempted to circle behind a cluster of fleeing spectators.
He flicked one wand outward.
"Inversio."
Gravity twisted.
The three attackers were hurled upward violently, bodies slamming against an invisible ceiling charm before crashing down in a heap.
One tried to rise.
Astoria's curse ended him before he could lift his wand.
Even after taking her first life, she didnt break down at all, still prepared for the next combatant to appear before her.
And she wasnt the only one, all of the girls were actively fighting back, mostly impeding the death eaters attempts to press on in their attack.
With the combined forces of Cassius and his girls, the arcanum forces, and returning ministry aurors.
The Death Eaters began to falter.
They only had shock factor but the shock was already over and now they were being overwhelmed by superior numbers.
A masked figure shouted, voice distorted beneath enchantment.
"Fall back!"
The majority obeyed and began to flee, scattering into whisps of black smoke as they aparated away.
Only three remained defiant.
Two defending the third who raised his wand skyward.
"Morsmordre!"
From his wand came a eerie green speel similar to Avadakedavra however not aimed to reap the soul of a person, but instead shooting towards the sky, before erupting in a smoke green skull whose move opened only for a great serpent to emerge and begin winding around itself i the sky
The Dark Mark.
It loomed over the burning campgrounds, vast and unmistakable.
Gasps rippled outward even among those still fighting.
The symbol had not been seen openly in thirteen years.
And now it hung above the site of the World Cup.
A declaration.
We are back.
Cassius's eyes hardened.
The Death Eaters began retreating in earnest now, Disapparating in sharp cracks of displaced air.
Within moments, the battlefield thinned.
Flames still roared.
Tents still burned.
But the attackers were gone.
Ministry Aurors finally secured the perimeter, too late to claim credit.
The Dark Mark continued to writhe overhead.
Cassius lowered his wands slowly.
Around him, the girls stood breathing hard but steady.
No one among them had fallen.
Several Death Eaters lay dead.
A few wounded survivors groaned under binding spells, having been 'arrested' by the ministry aurors who hesitated to retaliate force with force.
The Arcanum forces began efficient triage—healing the injured, extinguishing fire with coordinated torrents of conjured water.
The panic began to settle into stunned murmurs.
Above, the skull shimmered against the night.
A challenge issued to the world.
Left to be gazed at by the collective Ministry, Arcanum and volunteer forces who stood up when the dark forces reared their ugly heads.
Looking across the field of wizards and witches, Cassius caught site of Sirius who was standing next to Amelia Bones.
Sirius likewise spotted Cassius and the two exchange a simple but imperceptable nod of their heads.
Warrior, who survived the same battlefield simply acknowledging the other.
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