Burned Into Glory

Fiendfyre

Gellert Grindelwald stormed into the atrium of the British Ministry of Magic. He'd received a letter from Queenie from Tina Scamander informing him that someone had tried to murder Queenie at the trial of Albus Dumbledore, and that Queenie had been admitted to St Mungo's, the British Wizarding hospital, to be certain that the way she'd fallen to dodge the Killing Curse hadn't affected her baby.

He'd come alone, for he didn't want a massive battle, not when Queenie was in hospital. He couldn't afford for them to try and use her against him. He'd come to talk, not to fight. But he stormed through the atrium, and all around him, people gasped in horror and shock. Grindelwald kept the Elder Wand out at the ready, and he glared at the witches and wizards who eyed him with suspicion at best and utter fear at worst.

"Madam," said Grindelwald said to a passing witch, who jumped in terror and staggered backward. She nodded frantically, and Grindelwald tipped his head. "Where is the Department of Magical Law Enforcement? Torquil Travers?"

"L-L-Level Two," she stammered. Then she rushed away and exclaimed to a younger wizard, "That's Gellert Grindelwald! Should we -?"

Grindelwald ignored them. He walked toward the bank of lifts, and as he reached them, he saw a young witch go skittering away in absolute terror. He just inclined his head politely to her, and when the lift opened, he stepped inside. A voice called,

"Hold the lift, please!"

A wizard came jogging up to the lift, wearing stately dark robes, but he froze when he saw Gellert Grindelwald standing inside the lift. His eyes went round as saucers, and he looked like he might cry.

"I'll, erm... I'll catch the next one..." He backed away slowly, and Grindelwald smirked a little as the lift door slammed shut. He pushed the 2 button, and the lift began to zoom downward. When Grindelwald reached the second level, the door opened, and he stepped out. He fingered the Elder Wand carefully in his hand, and he stepped forward until he saw a sign overhead that read, Department of Magical Law Enforcement.Grindelwald stepped under the sign, slowly approaching an information desk where a bored-looking witch was thumbing through a copy of Witch Weekly magazine. She blew out a large bubble of Drooble's Best Blowing Gum and popped it, and she drawled,

"State your business, please."

"I need to see Torquil Travers immediately," said Grindelwald, and the witch chomped her gum, turning a page in her magazine.

"Mr Travers is very busy. You'll have to wait."

"I'm sure if you told him that Gellert Grindelwald has come to see him, he'd step out of his meeting," said Grindelwald with lethal calm in his voice. The witch looked up slowly, and her mouth fell open so widely that her gum fell right out of her mouth and dropped onto the page of her magazine. She gasped, her breath shaking, and she reached for her wand. She aimed it at Grindelwald and demanded,

"What are you doing here?"

Grindelwald tipped his head. "I'm sure you heard what happened to my wife in the Wizengamot. That's what I'm doing here, Miss...?"
"Longbottom," she whispered, sounding horrified. She rose and tucked her hair behind her ears. "I'll go fetch Mr Travers."

"Thank you," said Grindelwald, spinning the Elder Wand carefully between his fingers. He waited for only two minutes or so before a middle-aged wizard in grey work robes came stalking quickly out from a row of office doors. He looked very alarmed to see Gellert Grindelwald, and the second he saw him, he said,

"I ought to have you taken into custody at once."

"My entire army of followers knows I'm here," said Grindelwald, which was the truth. "They stand poised and ready to attack and reclaim me should you try anything like that. I am here to talk, Mr Travers. I need to know why it is that your security was so lax as to allow my wife to undergo an assassination attempt during Dumbledore's trial."