The group continued along until reaching a small alcove just outside of the Hogwarts Ward system. There several gasps were heard as they stumbled upon a group of students tied, while gagged, to wooden poles.
"Wh-what is…" Neville stuttered out in shock, before Luna burst into happy tears and hugged the raven-haired boy. The rest of the students merely stared in confusion.
"Oh, thank you my Lord! Thank you so much!"
"L-Luna, what is… who are…" the youngest Weasley inquired, more than a little confused and frightened.
"They are the ones who continuously bullied my dear Moon Princess, her personal demons so to speak." came the answer, along with a rather dark smile from their leader.
"What are you going to do to them?" It wasn't an accusation, and Hermione Granger was rather shocked at herself that she didn't feel bad for these other teens in the least. She had long since put bullies in the same category as rapists and murderers. Anyone who could willingly pick on someone as innocent as the young girl mere feet from her deserved whatever was coming to them.
"I won't be doing anything; however, they will be 'fed' to my friends. This will be the first step to transforming the world my dear Hermione. Their deaths will be the catalyst for change to improve everyone's lives, through them the failing government will be toppled, and the prejudices that have long since governed so many futures burned away."
Seconds later all understood, as Dementors swarmed into the area, their presence on the followers halted by the Lord, while the bound individuals screamed in silent terror.
"Y-you are going to kill them…"
"Yes Neville, I am. I warned all of you that there would be deaths at some point, but if you do not wish to witness this you are free to leave." The Longbottom heir tried to watch, but the moment that the first monster closed in on the helpless individual he turned and left, emptying his stomach after making it to the Wards.
One by one the souls were ripped away from the teenagers and devoured by the monstrosities. Afterwards the beasts departed, leaving several pale, and a few who watched on with glee, behind.
"How did you enjoy your gift my dear?"
Luna's smile brightened ever further, "It was perfect my Lord!"
...
A frantic knocking alerted the Headmaster of a presence at his door, which was quickly opened by the old man to see what the emergency was.
"Sir, there… has been an attack."
The old man paled, had Sirius Black truly found a way inside of Hogwarts? Was Harry and the other students that usually surrounded him alive? Without waiting for any further explanation, the eldest Wizard sent a Patronus to alert Amelia Bones, before gesturing for the Auror to lead him on. Several other professors joined in as the group finally made their way out of the castle and towards the Ward line where the 'incident' had been discovered.
Ten minutes later and the bearded Mage felt what little life inside of him draining away. A half-dozen students lay in a clearing, pale and unmoving. He could already see signs of the blue-tinted lips and hollow eyes, indicators of 'The Kiss'.
"Sweet Merlin… Albus what happened here?"
Turning, Dumbledore gave a slight nod to the head of the DMLE, along with the other Aurors that had accompanied her. McGonagall had been forced to turn away and had emptied the contents of her stomach onto the ground nearby.
"It… it appears to have been Dementors…"
"My students…" Filius whispered, as he fell to his knees, tears brimming at his eyes at the loss of so many young souls.
A few moments of silence passed, before Severus chose to interrupt the moment, "What should we do Headmaster?"
'Action first, mourning later' the older man decided as he raised himself to his full stature and authority. "Cancel all outside classes immediately, evacuate all students into the school and place them in the common rooms, take a full head count. Should anyone be missing it is to be reported immediately. Director contact Azkaban and tell them to send a full retrieval unit today . I want these monsters off Hogwarts grounds before sundown, or else I will go hunting for them ."
Contrary to popular belief it was possible to kill Dementors, but the feat was incredibly difficult. Only a handful of Wizards alive could boast to ever doing such a thing. Albus Dumbledore was one of them.
The other adults merely nodded wide eyed at the change in the man. This was not Albus Dumbledore the Headmaster or schoolteacher. Not the man who led the Wizengamot or represented them in the ICW. This was Albus Dumbledore the warrior, the man who had defeated Grindewald in single combat, the only person that the Dark Lord Voldemort ever feared.
"Chief Warlock." Amelia Bones inquired, her choice of titles surprising no one, "we will need to contact the Minister and the Wizengamot, as well as the parents of the… deceased."
"I will take care of that. I am the one responsible for the safety of every student at Hogwarts, the burden for this failure falls onto my shoulders."
"You did not fail Albus, I do not know what happened, but you could not have predicted this would be the outcome." McGonagall muttered, earning a sad denial from the man in question.
"But I should have…"
.....
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