In the Shadow of Azkaban

Volume II: Alternate Ending IV

Kassia's Point-of-View
The Black Manor
August 1896

A loud clamoring broke out from behind one of the paneled walls, and Phineas flourished his wand directly at it. Like the bricks in Diagon Alley, it broke away piece by piece to reveal a horrifying visual.

My eyes scanned for hers.

Morganna meticulously laid against the wooden block. Her upper body wilted forward as if she were a dehydrated flower. But once the ceiling illuminated itself, I realized why.

The silvery reflection caught my eye. I let out a sharp gasp, and Xilia nudged me as if to not react. How in Merlin's name was I to manage that?

Roughly a hundred children, probably Morganna's age, were positioned in the exact same manner, resting on guillotines.

I hadn't wanted to wait, but I knew I needed to figure out who the culprit had been. As soon as I was made aware, their lifeless body would sit at my feet.

Xilia's phrase echoed in my head, "Don't try anything heroic tonight, Kass."

If anything, I knew my sister's slimy fingers were dipped into this heinous tradition.

But Ominis was three steps ahead of me with Antoinette annotating the scene in his ear.

"You conniving, little cunt." His words were like fire before they muddled into snake language. I could feel the hatred rising in the air between us all.

Ominis approached her hastily and dug his wand into the space between her clavicle. Although, he hesitated too long. Xilia turned his wand up into the air, and the curse instead flew into the ceiling to mimic a warning fuse.

Her voice commanded the room when she diverted the attention. She eyed Marat, and he cowered at her intensity.

"Imperio!" She screamed, and the sound morphed into a cackling of sorts. "Just like old times, little Marat. Is it not?" Her menacing laugh continued as she flickered her eyes from him to Ominis.

"Phineas!" She called, her voice half-crazed. "Drop the curtains, if you will, dear."

All of the suspended knives came crashing down, and I squeezed my eyes closed to avoid the sights of children's heads rolling about the floor. Though, the bloodcurdling screams and loud thuds crashing down from the seamless slicing might have been worse.

Marat still lingered under the curse, so no emotion consumed him. But Ominis. Ominis had fallen to the ground from the shock. His terrorized yells were just as loud as the other parents in the ballroom.

Until he ceased.

A cast of blinding green light ascended across the small area between him and Marat. Ominis had curved to the side and hit his head against the marble floor. Blood spilled out from underneath him, and he started coughing up clots.

Antoinette leaned over him, covering his body. Her eyes grew like Medusa's, and her scales arched on top of her skin. She appeared animalistic. The tone that escaped her lips matched that of a prisoner of Azkaban. Other than Lailah, she had nothing to lose.

She could have my sister. I hoped she tortured her to death.

I focused my attention on my target. Phineas.

All I needed was to lock my eyes on him. Just a sliver of a look.

"Phineas!" I called lovingly. My tone had a sinister quality to it, but men were aloof. He hadn't noticed.

His surprised expression was forever embedded on his face when I turned him to stone. I craved the sound of his body breaking down from not being able to pump blood through his veins. He was a sick bastard, and his vile family deserved every bit of this.

But his children weren't present, and I couldn't find Ursula for the life of me. Aesop apparated beside me with Elladora clutched into his fingers. His grasp tightened around the collar of her dress, and he performed the severing curse on each of her limbs. Leaving her an amputated heap on the floor.

Though, I should have known the situation would backfire.

Dinah's gaze glowered at me, and she drew her wand. The tip of the wood seemed to be aimed at Sharp. I put my body in front of him, and he picked me up and threw me out of the way.

The curse she used wasn't an Unforgiveable, but it had been dark. Aesop attempted to deflect it, but one of the Purebloods in the ballroom cast at him. He had been weak, and that was his undoing.

Dinah nodded at me and spoke low, so that only we could hear, "An eye for an eye." Then, without warning, she apparated away.

I knelt down over Aesop's large body curled up underneath me. Some breathing still managed to make its way out of his mouth, but there was no way to save him. I whispered charms over his skin to ease the pain while he passed. When the warmth from his body finally dissipated, I rose up and peered around at my family and former colleagues.

Antoinette had ripped Xilia's head clean off, or at least it appeared that way. However, before she triumphed that feat, Xilia sent Marat after Iskra. And Sebastian didn't take lightly to it.

Marat laid next to his mother's headless body with a new scar adorned on his forehead. One to match his father's. The Killing Curse.

The punishment was the least deserved out of all of the deaths, other than Morganna's.

Everyone apparated away, except us who remained. Me, Antoinette, Sebastian, and Iskra. No one else from our party survived.

My voice tore through the silence. "Quick. All of you. Grab Morgann, Ominis, and Marat. We're going to Mykonos to give proper burials."

I clutched Aesop's vessel in mine, and our bodies melted together when we apparated home.